Delhi: At least 61 people were admitted to three hospitals for treatment after a fire erupted at a coaching centre in Delhi's Mukherjee Nagar on Thursday.
"Out of them, around 50 have been discharged. The place of occurrence was inspected and photographed by the district crime team. The place of occurrence was also inspected by the forensic team of FSL, Rohini, Delhi," officials said.
"Around 200-250 students from different coaching centres were attending the classes at the time of the incident. Preliminary enquiry revealed that there was fire in electric meters installed on the ground floor of the building. A case u/s 336/337/338/120B/34 IPC is being registered in PS Mukherjee Nagar and further investigation is in progress," they said.
Earlier in the day, dramatic scenes were seen at the coaching centre when students had to escape using windows and ropes to save their lives.
A call about the fire was received at 12.27 pm and 11 fire tenders were pressed into service, said Delhi Fire Service Director Atul Garg. Garg told PTI that 10-12 students suffered minor injuries while climbing down the building using ropes.
"There is no major causality. All students have been rescued. All are safe," he said.
The preliminary inquiry suggested that the fire started from the metre board installed on the fourth floor of the building. The building comprises ground plus four floors, officials said.
In a video shared by the fire department, its personnel could be seen rescuing people, mostly students, through the windows.
The panic-stricken students were seen climbing down from the top floor of the building with the help of ropes. Smoke can also be seen coming out of that floor.
Ropes on the other side of the building were also used by the students to come out of the premises. Some of them were seen throwing down their bags and helping one another.
A large crowd gathered on the ground floor with many of them recording the incident on their mobile phones.
"The firefighting operation is over. No major injuries have been reported so far," Garg said.
A senior doctor at the Hindu Rao Hospital where several students were brought said they were discharged after first aid.
Describing the incident as "very unfortunate", Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted, "Some students have suffered minor injuries while trying to escape, rest are safe. There is nothing to panic about.
The fire has been brought under control by the fire department. The district administration is also present at the spot".
Delhi Police spokesperson Suman Nalwa said the fire started from the electric meters of the building and the smoke spread to other floors.
(With inputs from PTI)
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