Massive fire at building in Delhi’s Jhandewalan, several vehicles damaged, no casualty | Latest News Delhi

New Delhi, A four-storey commercial complex building in central Delhi’s Jhandewalan Extension was gutted by a massive fire that also damaged nearly three dozen vehicles on Tuesday, officials said.

No casualty has been reported so far, they said.

Huge flames and plumes of thick black smoke could be seen billowing into the sky from a distance as the fire engulfed the entire building, which houses an ICICI Bank branch, an ATM and a Domino’s Pizza outlet among other offices.

Initially, eight fire brigades were pressed into service but as the flames were spreading fast due to strong winds, more tenders were deployed, a Delhi Fire Services official said.

Deputy Chief Fire Officer SK Dua said, “A total of 25 fire tenders were involved in extinguishing the blaze. As of now, no casualties have been reported. We will conduct a thorough check.”

The firefighters used a crane to spray water on the top floors of the building, an official said, adding that nobody was found trapped inside.

Prompt action by locals and passersby helped in the immediate evacuation of people who were present inside the Anarkali Complex in Block E 3, the officials said.

According to the officials, the fire broke out around 2 pm on a temporary tarpaulin shed on the top floor of the building and its spark fell on an air conditioner, which caught fire resulting in a blast and a massive fire.

The bank branch that occupies a major portion of the ground and first floors was, like major banks across the country, closed today due to “closing of accounts”.

This averted a major tragedy. However, it is suspected that some cash deposited in the ATM could have been damaged, the police said.

There were no shops operational on the remaining floors of the building since some construction and renovation work was underway. People were timely evacuated from the pizza outlet, they said.

Nearly three dozen vehicles, including motorcycles and cars, parked near the building were gutted by the fire when parts of the burning hoardings fell on them, sources said.

DCP M Harsha Vardhan said the fire had spread to a DDA shopping complex nearby.

According to the police, the area was cordoned off. Some renovation work was underway on the second and third floors of the building. Police in their statement did not mention any bank name.

A fire official said that seeing the intensity of the fire, it was marked in the ‘medium category’.

The owner of a shop near the building said, “The fire started around 2 pm in the top left corner of the building. The guard noticed the smoke and warned people inside. People were promptly evacuated before the fire spread.”

Several videos of the incident spread quickly on social media platforms, prompting many to visit the site.

Meanwhile, Krishan Singh, an eyewitness said, “It was around 2 pm, when people saw thick black smoke coming out of the building.”

“At first we thought that the workers engaged in renovation work may have burnt something. But later we saw flames and immediately rushed there and raised an alarm,” he said.

Another eyewitness, Ajay, who works as a branch manager at a private bank nearby, informed that his car was gutted by the fire.

“I was least bothered about my car. I was more worried about the workers inside the pizza outlet. I immediately rushed to the spot and helped them to come out,” he added.

“Security guards acted on time and alerted everyone. We hope that everyone inside of the building came out on time. All the nearby offices immediately closed for the day and asked their employees to leave the area,” another eyewitness told PTI Videos.

Sources in the fire department said that with increasing weather conditions and temperature rise, the department is getting over 125 calls everyday.

In a single day, the national capital witnessed four fire incidents.

In northeast Delhi’s Shastri Park a car and some rickshaws caught fire after a blaze broke out in a parking lot. In Janakpuri, three cars were gutted by fire near Janak Cinema.

In northwest Delhi’s New Seelampur area, a fire broke out in a slum cluster near Jag Parvesh Hospital at around 7.30 am. Four to five huts were damaged in the blaze.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.