Eyewitness accounts of Dhanbad killer fire and smoke that choked 14 to death

Dhanbad: Eyewitnesses recall harrowing experiences of residents of the multi-storey building in Jharkhand's Dhanbad where a killer fire claimed 14 lives and left several injured on Tuesday evening. Most of the deaths were caused due to smoke. After hours of struggle, the fire was brought under control but the cause is yet to be ascertained. Many questions were raised on the fire and structural safety of the building.

Although firefighters reached the spot on time, there were locals at the forefrontm and they played a major role in dousing the fire. One local, who was passing nearby, saw huge flames billowing out from second floor of the Ashirwad residential building. Recounting the incident, he said, "I was passing through the Bazaar at night when I saw two floors of the building engulfed in fire. The 3rd and 4th floors of the building were in flames with heavy smoke obscuring the view." The intensity of the fire was massive, he added.

Noticing that the fire brigade team's water capacity was not enough to douse the fire, he rushed to the opposite building. "I went to the terrace and with the help of others opened the motor tanks, attached a huge pipe and held it for around two and a half hours until the fire was brought under control."

The eyewitnesses said that many residents fell unconscious due to the smoke emanating from the fire, while others got injured while leaving the building as the lower floors had caught fire. Raising questions on the management, he questioned the administration for not adhering to safety norms while approving building plans. He said that if the building was equipped with proper facilities then such casualties would have been avoided.

Jaiprakash Gupta, a family friend who had come here to attend a marriage function here said that there was a marriage ceremony underway in the building and the main event (reception) was held in the nearby Sidhi Vinayak hotel. Some of the family members of the flat that caught fire had gone to the hotel, while others were present in the apartment when the fire broke out. Gupta, a close friend of the aggrieved family, claimed that the bride's mother, grandfather, her maternal aunt and children were among the dead in the ghastly fire.

Another resident of the building, Sonal Kumari, who escaped the fire, said that she came to know about the fire after it had spread to other floors and there was smoke all around. "I came to know about the fire after the building was engulfed in smoke. We held hands and came down as we couldn't see anything due to the thick black smoke billowing from the flats." She added that her family spent the fateful night at a relative's place.