Lucknow, June 23: A devastating fire in a commercial building in the Aliganj area of Lucknow has claimed the lives of 15 individuals. Among the survivors, Mohammad Asif shared his terrifying experience of the incident. He revealed that the entry gate to the studio on the second floor was locked due to a biometric system, forcing him to escape using electrical wires.
Asif recounted, “We were seated after lunch, about to resume work when staff members informed us of a short circuit and a fire outbreak.”
He continued, “We began to exit slowly. As we tried to leave, we were logging our attendance on the biometric machine, but there was no power, and the fingerprint system failed. The door wouldn’t open. We somehow managed to get to another room and exited through a different door. By then, smoke had filled the stairwell. We ran back, covering our mouths with towels, trying to escape. When we reached the window, more smoke was seeping in.”
Asif explained that they spotted an electrical wire passing by a small window and attempted to descend using it. “I, along with four or five others, managed to get down that way,” he said.
In a desperate attempt to avoid suffocation, some individuals locked themselves in the washroom but did not survive. Asif mentioned, “One of our colleagues, Jayant Gupta, broke a glass window and tried to jump out but fell onto a metal railing, breaking his hip. He lay on the street for about half an hour before an ambulance arrived.”
He expressed concern over the delayed response, stating, “The fire brigade arrived more than an hour later. I don’t know how many people they managed to rescue.”
Recalling the intensity of the flames, Asif noted, “The fire was so fierce that I could feel my skin burning from 100 meters away.” He added that the fire alarm was not operational, and they received help only after nearly an hour. Outside, people were shouting for them to come out, warning that the fire had spread throughout the building. “We had no idea of the fire’s severity because the inside was filled with smoke,” he said.
Witness Mala Nigam also described the flames as so intense that it was impossible for anyone to enter the building to save lives. She mentioned, “There was a pet shop on the ground floor with dogs, cats, and other animals. People quickly pulled cages outside and threw some animals out to save them. Only a few managed to escape from above; two or three children jumped and got injured. After that, the fire escalated, making it impossible to save anyone.”
She further stated that if firefighters had reached the roof, they might have saved more children. “The roof door was locked with a shutter. The children were trapped inside. I cannot describe that scene. The children were frantically calling their parents, and some even locked themselves in the washroom in a bid to save themselves.”
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O.P./A.S.
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