Among first responders: Shopkeepers, auto drivers

As soon as news broke of a fire on the ground floor of a four-storey building in Mukherjee Nagar, the roughly 250 students studying at the Gurukul SSC coaching centre, located in the basement of the building, ran to safety.

- Shiv Sunny

However, they knew that those studying on the upper storeys of the building would not be able to escape that easily.

Smoke was quickly engulfing the building, scores of other students were trapped on the upper floors, and the firefighters were yet to reach the spot.

As panic-struck students from above began a desperate attempt to escape the building by rappelling down a power cable and a water pipeline, those who managed to escape started to lay their personal belongings on the ground. "The only way to save lives was to cushion their fall," said Lovepreet Singh, one of the students who got out early.

At the same time, some students trapped on the upper floors started throwing their bags down, in an attempt to create a soft landing to break their fall.