‘Exploding vehicles, people ready to jump’: Residents narrate midnight ordeal after massive Tughlakabad blaze claims three lives

NEW DELHI: Three people were killed and several others sustained injuries after a massive fire broke out in a residential building in Delhi’s Tughlakabad Extension area during the early hours of Friday. Amidst the chaos, residents recounted the harrowing midnight ordeal, describing their frantic, collaborative efforts to rescue trapped occupants by using sarees as makeshift ropes and cutting through safety grilles.

Recalling the incident, one resident stated that they arrived to find seven motorcycles and a scooter exploding on the ground floor. While residents managed to douse the flames using water, the fire had already caused significant devastation; despite their collective rescue efforts, one resident on the fourth floor could not be saved and succumbed to their injuries.

𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐧 #𝐃𝐞𝐥𝐡𝐢’𝐬 𝐓𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐥𝐚𝐪𝐚𝐛𝐚𝐝

Three people died after a massive fire broke out at a residential building in Delhi’s Tughlakabad area.

The fire reportedly erupted in the ground-floor parking area,… pic.twitter.com/6UI6XrXdxA

— All India Radio News (@airnewsalerts) June 12, 2026

“We live right across the street. When we realized a fire had broken out here, we rushed over immediately; the entire neighborhood had come together to help. When we arrived, we saw vehicles exploding on the ground floor. there were 7 bikes and a scooter, and they were all blowing up. We managed to extinguish the flames using water. We also rescued people from the rear, using sarees to help them climb down and cutting through safety grilles at the back to get the girls out. In total, eight people were injured, and one person died… One person who lived on the fourth floor has died; his name was Pankaj… This happened exactly at 2 am and a call was made at 2.10 am…” a resident said.

Another resident recounted that thick smoke made it impossible to even stand in the street. With the available pipe being too short to reach the blaze, residents spent the night manually passing buckets of water in a desperate effort to douse the fire.

“We were sleeping when suddenly someone raised a hue and cry. We woke up. There was so much smoke in the street that it was impossible to even stand there. We, along with our neighbours, started filling buckets from our houses to douse the flames; we even tried using a pipe, but it wasn’t long enough. We just kept passing buckets of water, that is all I saw. There was so much smoke,” another resident said.

Delhi | ADO Yashwant Meena further reported that fire was in 03 Scooty, 02 bikes, 01 bicycle at ground floors parking area of the house and fire and smoke travels to all ground + 05 floors. Ground, 1st, 2nd floor is completely burned and rest floors are partially burned. DFS also… https://t.co/RrjR9QTS7o pic.twitter.com/VgTHWN7USv

— ANI (@ANI) June 12, 2026

A local resident who was present at the spot recalled calling the fire brigade from his daughter’s phone after hearing pleas for help. He then rushed downstairs to flag down a patrolling PCR van for assistance, noting that the distress was such that trapped residents were on the verge of jumping from their balconies.

“One lady cried for help. At that very moment, I called the fire brigade from my daughter’s phone. After making the call, I came downstairs and flagged down a PCR van to call for help. The fire brigade arrived 10 to 15 minutes later. Everyone helped; about 7-8 cars arrived, and 8-9 people were rescued, one died…. People were even ready to jump from the balconies,” one resident said.

Meanwhile, three people died after a massive fire broke out in a building in Delhi’s Tughlakabad area in the early hours of Friday, police said. Six people have been rescued so far by the Delhi Fire Service (DFS) staff and were shifted to a nearby hospital with the help of Centralised Accident and Trauma Services (CATS), officials said.

According to the fire department, at least eight injured people were evacuated earlier and shifted to the AIIMS Trauma Centre for treatment The blaze erupted at a building located in Gali No. 1, near Naya Tara Apartment on Madhyam Marg, under the jurisdiction of Okhla Fire Station-1 (OKH-1).

According to the fire department, multiple emergency calls reporting a building fire and people trapped inside were received between 2.35 am and 2.37 am. Preliminary information from the fire department indicated that the fire originated in vehicles parked inside the house. Firefighters launched rescue operations after reports that several occupants were trapped inside the building.

At 3.45 am, ADO Meena informed that the fire had been brought under control. At 4:00 am, the DFS issued a stop message, indicating that firefighting operations had been completed. Rescue efforts continued even after the fire was contained. (ANI)