Two brothers killed as car catches fire in Delhi

New Delhi: Two mentally-challenged brothers were today charred to death while their uncle suffered burn injuries when the car they were travelling in caught fire in South West Delhi's Kapashera area, police said.

The deceased have been identified as Pankaj (19) and Sumit (16), residents of Gurgaon. Their uncle Yashveer, who is a driver in the security wing of the Delhi Police, has been admitted to Safdarjung Hospital with 20 per cent burns.

According to the police, the incident took place at around 6.30pm when the trio were on their way to see a relative in the car bearing Haryana registration number. Yashveer was at the wheel while the two boys were on the rear seat.

"The car caught fire which spread so fast that the two brothers, who were mentally challenged, could not come out of it. Yashveer managed to escape before the car turned into a ball of fire," said a police official.

Yashveer told police that he saw smoke coming out of the car. By the time he stopped it on the roadside, it was fully engulfed in fire.

He somehow came out of the car and along with some locals tried to rescue the two boys, but in vain as they could not open the rear doors of the car.

"We got a call about the incident at about 6.30pm, after which two fire tenders were rushed to the spot. Bodies of the two youth were recovered from the car after the blaze was extinguished," said a fire department official.

Police said the cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained.