It was 2.24 am and pitch dark when a fire broke out at a five-storey building in south Delhi’s Tughlakabad Extension on Friday. The residents were sleeping, unaware of the fire spreading fast.
The blaze suspected to have started by an electrical short circuit on the ground floor grew big within minutes. By the time the residents discovered the tragedy unfolding right in front of their eyes, the fire had spread to the stairs that led to the exit.
Then, in that hour of desperation and horror, one of the residents, Mumtaz, gathered all her strength to save her loved ones and even a pet cat, in a feat that her mother said showed her courage under fire.
After pulling out her two sisters – Kareena and Seema – from the burning building, Mumtaz went back to save their pet cat, Coco. She got trapped amid the spreading blaze and thick smoke, until firefighters rescued her. By then she had suffered severe burn injuries.
Her mother, Kishwar Jahan, told NDTV that she spoke to her daughter around midnight and told her to close the windows as a strong wind was blowing.
“I had no idea that a tragedy would happen to my children. I fell asleep. Meanwhile, my husband’s health also suddenly deteriorated. I don’t know why. Then he woke me up to say the phone was ringing,” Jahan said.
“I answered. My daughter sounded terrified and cried, ‘Mom, please save us’. I asked what happened and she said ‘the whole building has caught fire, we won’t survive’. I heard people screaming, ‘save us, save us’,” she said.
Kishwar Jahan, the mother of Mumtaz, speaks to NDTV
“She gathered courage and woke her two sisters up. She brought them out safely. Then she went and grabbed the cat, but while trying to open the gate, the cat jumped out of her hands and ran away. She could not come out. We have not seen the cat since then,” Mumtaz said.
Trapped in the fire, Mumtaz dialled her husband, Deepak, who had gone to Agra. He recalled that his wife panicked and sobbed uncontrollably, pleading to be rescued. Mumtaz told him she couldn’t see anything due to the smoke, so he suggested she may consider jumping into an adjacent balcony if it was safe to do so.
Rescue teams eventually arrived and brought her out, but by then she had severe burn injuries all over her body. Mumtaz is undergoing treatment in an intensive care unit and is not out of danger yet.
Her family said that after regaining consciousness, Mumtaz repeatedly asked about Coco.
The fire killed three people – a man and two women. Initial investigation indicated an electrical short circuit on the ground floor may have triggered the fire. It quickly spread and engulfed seven two-wheelers, including an electric scooter that was being charged at the time.
However, officials said the actual cause of the fire will be determined after a detailed inquiry and investigation.