New Delhi: A couple and their two-year-old daughter were killed when a fire engulfed a cluster of jhuggies in northwest Delhi’s Budh Vihar in the early hours of Wednesday.Delhi Fire Services got a distress call around 1.35 am about the blaze that had engulfed multiple shanties. Seven fire tenders rushed to the spot, and firefighters battled the flames for nearly three hours before it could be brought under control around 4.35 am.DFS officials said the fire burnt five jhuggies housing eight residents. Five people managed to escape in time, the family of three got trapped inside.The deceased were identified as Mohammad Musibur (27), his wife Munara (24), and their daughter Maymuna (2). Officials said the blaze, fuelled by plastic waste and scrap inside and around the jhuggies, spread quickly.Families and neighbours said the trio were trapped inside as they had bolted the door from within — a step they took to keep their child safe. The plastic sheet roofing of the jhuggi is suspected to have collapsed during the blaze, further blocking any escape.“At first I thought they had all escaped. We saw people running out of their shacks as the flames began to engulf the place, but only when we saw them throwing out Maymuna we realised they were still stuck inside. They tried to save Maymuna… through a small opening in their wall made of cloth and sheets, but she couldn’t survive,” Munara’s mother, Marufa (45), told TOI.Other residents too said the couple had tried to save their child by throwing her out of the burning jhuggi, hoping she would escape the flames. However, scrap material that was already on fire and molten plastic fell around her. She did not survive. Inside, her parents were burnt alive. Only their skeletal remains were found in the debris.Hours later, Marufa stood among the ruins, grieving the loss. “We were looking forward to going to Calcutta and were supposed to leave on April 25 to vote, but this tragedy happened. She was my only daughter. She got married just three years ago. They worked very hard, dealing in scrap to make a living, and wanted to admit Maymuna to school. They wanted a different future for her,” she said.TOI found amid the charred remains twisted metal, burnt bottles, paint canisters and the skeletal frame of a refrigerator. Small coolers and gas cylinders lay blackened, while in one corner, what appeared to be bone fragments were visible in the ashes.A forensic team visited the spot and examined the stoves and small cylinders.Police said a case under BNS has been registered at Budh Vihar police station and efforts are under way to determine the possible cause of the fire. Police are also looking into who threw the waste.
