Lucknow (UP), Jun 22: A major fire blazed through a three-storey commercial building housing an animation centre in a posh north Lucknow neighbourhood on a busy Monday afternoon, leaving at least 15 people, mostly students, dead and seven injured, officials said.
Many of the victims were trapped on the second floor of the building, located on Usha Mehta Marg in a residential part of Aliganj, where students were attending classes at the centre.
Preliminary information suggested the fire may have started in the building’s AC duct and the smoke led to suffocation due to the absence of a proper exit route, UP Urban Development and Energy Minister A K Sharma said, adding possible lapses in building standards would be probed.
Eyewitnesses said several people jumped out of the building, which was completely gutted in the fire. Some people were seen rappelling down the wires to escape the blaze.The victims had to be brought out from the terrace of an adjoining building, where rescue teams had to drill two large openings into the affected building to gain access while the fire was still raging.
Panic-stricken friends and family members of victims, who rushed to the site after receiving frantic calls for help from inside, pleaded with rescuers to save their kin.
Around two dozen cats and dogs at a pet facility located on the ground floor and basement were also caught in the fire but most of them were rescued in time, except four or five animals in the basement.
Nineteen fire tenders, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and other rescue personnel were deployed to douse the blaze reported at around 3 pm.
“A total of 22 people were brought to the Trauma Centre of King George’s Medical University (KGMU) following the incident. Of them, 15 were declared brought dead, while five injured persons were admitted for treatment and their condition was stable,” King George Medical University (KGMU) PRO Prof K K Singh told PTI.
“Due to two children jumping, they suffered back injuries, so they are also being treated after CT scans and other procedures,” said Dr Anil Agrawal, medical superintendent at the trauma centre.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath cut short his visit to Aligarh and reached the site to review the situation. He later visited the injured at the hospital. Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak, who had reached the spot as the rescue operation was underway, said a high-level inquiry had been ordered.
He said that the children had come during summer holidays to learn animation at the centre. “The fire broke out suddenly. While there is no immediate clarity about the sequence of events, it seems that the children ran towards the back side when the fire broke out but they couldn’t survive,” he said.
With tears welling in his eyes, the deputy chief minister said he had seen 14 bodies at the spot. “They were our children. It is a very tragic incident,” he said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President Droupadi Murmu, Vice President C P Radhakrishnan, Defence Minister and Lucknow MP Rajnath Singh and others expressed anguish at the loss of lives. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi sent condolence messages.
PM Modi announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh from PMNRF to the next of kin of each deceased. The injured would be given Rs. 50,000. The UP CM also declared an ex-gratia assistance of Rs 5 lakh each for the families of those who died in the fire and Rs 50,000 each for the injured.
UP minister A K Sharma, who visited the site on Monday night, said the incident would be thoroughly investigated, including possible lapses in building standards, and strict action would be taken.
This fire incident in Lucknow comes within weeks of a massive blaze in a south Delhi restaurant that killed over 20 people.
The building is located in the premium residential Aliganj neighbourhood dotted by commercial spaces including coaching centres, cafes, and within walking distance of the Purania market.
A local told PTI Videos during the rescue operation, “When I arrived at the spot, I saw smoke billowing from the building. Some students had already been rescued … seven to eight students jumped from the building.”
As a student jumped from an upper floor, people below quickly spread a mattress-like object to cushion the fall, following which locals immediately moved the student away from the area and arranged medical assistance.
Outside the building, scenes of anguish and helplessness unfolded as distraught men and women, apparently guardians and relatives of the victims, were seen standing near the site and urging authorities to allow them to enter the building when the firefighting and rescue operations were underway.
“Mujhe jaane do apne bete ke paas (Let me go to my son),” one woman cried repeatedly, pleading with officials as rescue operations continued.
Eyewitnesses said many tried to break the building’s glass panes to allow thick smoke to escape and create possible routes for those trapped inside.
Dhiraj Mehra reached the site after receiving a frantic call from his colleague, Aditya Srivastava, a 3D artist working at the gaming zone on the third floor. “He called me saying ‘bacha lo’ (save me), and I rushed to the site.”
As the rescue operation ended, the tragedy moved from the fire site to the hospitals and mortuary, where families with photographs of their loved ones on mobile phones reached to identify their loved ones.
The bodies were shifted from the trauma centre at KGMU to the post-mortem house for identification and autopsy procedures. Most of those who lost their lives were young adults, KGMU PRO K K Singh said.
The deceased were identified as Sagar, Nilesh, Anamika, Sanyam, Anuchha, Sukhmani, Aditya Srivastava, Jyoti, Bhavishya, Abdul Rehman, Suraj Bhaar, Sehjan, Jaynil Chakraborty, Mohammad Ammar and Sumalya, according to a list issued by the hospital.
Neeraj Bora, the local MLA, said, “There was no (fire) exit route and this was perhaps the reason why the scale of the tragedy was so big.” He added that he had been raising the demand for a local fire station.
Till about 8.30 pm, while the rescue operation was technically over, firefighters were busy working at the site.
Deva Singh (17), a Class XI student and resident of Chandralok Colony near the site, told PTI he heard loud bursts before seeing flames. “I could hear screams. Some youth used cables to climb down, and I saw one person jump from the third floor,” he said, adding that locals tried their best to help those trapped.
A local policeman from Purania police outpost told PTI that the absence of a second exit route made the rescue difficult. “We and fire brigade personnel reached the roof, but there was no alternative exit,” he said.
Sanjay Kushwaha, an ambulance pilot from Ram Sagar Mishra Hospital, told PTI that around 70-80 ambulances, including those from neighbouring districts, were deployed. “Seeing so many young people dead at one place was a shattering experience,” he said. Jhabbu Sahni, driver of the hydraulic platform deployed at the spot, told PTI that many lives could have been saved if a roof exit was available.
Animal rights activists and locals helped rescue stray dogs and cats from a pet facility that was affected in the fire. Activist Kiran Shukla said around 20-22 dogs and puppies and nearly a dozen cats were present at the pet clinic. “Around seven cats were rescued alive from the basement, though some may not have survived,” she told PTI.
