2 customers dead in Karol Bagh blaze; store lacked NOC: Police

A customer died of suffocation inside an elevator while another was charred to death after a fire broke out at a fully functional five-storey multi-chain departmental store outlet in Karol Bagh in central Delhi on Friday evening, officials from the fire and police departments said.

- Karn Pratap Singh

At least 93 people, including staff members, were inside the store when the blaze started, police said.

The body of 25-year-old Kunwar Dhirendra Vikram, a civil services aspirant, was recovered from the elevator that had stopped functioning as soon as the fire broke out at around 6.30pm on Friday.

The other victim was identified as 30-year-old Pawan Gautam, who police said got trapped on the second floor of the building while shopping. His charred body was recovered on Saturday afternoon after concluding the rescue operation.

Initial probe into the blaze has pointed to lapses on part of the building owner - it did not have a fire no-objection certificate nor any firefighting arrangements, officials said.

Police have a lodged a case of death by negligence, said deputy commissioner of police (central) Nidhin Valsan.