Overview
- A fast-spreading blaze broke out in a three-storey commercial building on Usha Mehta Marg in Aliganj, trapping people and forcing several students to jump from the first floor during rescue attempts.
- Rescue crews deployed multiple fire tenders and a hydraulic platform and carried out room-by-room searches before declaring recovery operations finished on Monday.
- Officials confirmed 14 deaths, mostly students, and said several injured were treated at King George’s Medical University trauma centre; some victims were brought out on stretchers and others in body bags.
- The prime minister announced ex-gratia payments from the PMNRF for victims’ families and injured persons, and the state ordered a high-level probe to examine the blaze’s origin and any fire-safety violations in the mixed-use building.
- The fire has focused renewed attention on safety at commercial coaching and training centres that operate in dense urban buildings and could prompt tighter inspections and enforcement of fire exits and electrical wiring standards.