Fire at coaching institute in Delhi's Mukherjee Nagar, students climb down building using ropes

New Delhi: Students of a coaching institute in northwest Delhi's Mukherjee Nagar area on Thursday smashed windows, climbed down ropes and took help of ladders in desperate attempts to escape a fire that broke out on the top floor of the building housing it.

A call about the fire was received at 12.27 pm and 11 fire tenders were pressed into service, said Delhi Fire Service Director Atul Garg.

Garg told PTI video that 10-12 students suffered minor injuries while climbing down ropes in panic. "There is no major causality. All students have been rescued. All are safe," he said.

Preliminary inquiry suggested that the fire started from the meter board installed at the fourth floor of the building. The building comprises ground plus four floors, officials said.

In a video shared by the fire department, the firemen can be seing rescuing people, mostly students, through the windows.

The panic-stricken students are seen climbing down from the top floor of the building with the help of ropes. Smoke can also be seen coming out of that floor.

Ropes on the other side of the building were also used by the students to come out of the premises. The video shows trapped students coming out of the top floor of the building one by one. Some of them are also seen throwing their bags and helping one another during the rescue operation.

A large crowd gathered on the ground floor with many of them recording videos of the incident on their mobile phones.

"The firefighting operation has been finished. So far no major injuries have been reported," Garg added.

Describing the fire incident as "very unfortunate", Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted, "Some students have suffered minor injuries while trying to escape, rest are safe. There is nothing to panic. The fire has been brought under control by the fire department. The district administration is also present at the spot".

आग की ये घटना बेहद दुर्भाग्यपूर्ण है। कुछ छात्र बचने के प्रयास में मामूली रूप से घायल हुए हैं, बाक़ी सभी छात्र सुरक्षित हैं। घबराने की बात नहीं है, दमकल विभाग द्वारा आग पर क़ाबू पा लिया गया है। ज़िला प्रशासन भी मौक़े पर मौजूद है। https://t.co/h32QYbxuKB

— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) June 15, 2023

Delhi Police spokesperson Suman Nalwa said the fire started from the electric meters of the building and the smoke spread to the other floors.

"A coaching centre was running on the upper floor of the building. Smokr coming out of the building created panic. Students tried to come out of the building from windows and some of them suffered injuries. They were taken to hospital and the fire has been brought under control," she added.

Mukherjee Nagar is a coaching hub for government job aspirants.