Mundka fire tragedy: 'Don't know whether she is alive or not'

Exactly a year ago, 20-year-old Suman's father died of COVID-19 in the same hospital where her family members are now scrambling for her remains.

The fire tragedy at a building in outer Delhi's Mundka has wreaked havoc on the family, who is yet to come to terms with the turn of events.

Suman, who worked at a firm in the building, has been missing since the fire broke out.

Unable to find her for hours, her family members seemed to have prepared themselves for the worst and visited the mortuary at Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital in Mangolpuri on Saturday to check whether they could at least find her remains there.

"She is probably no more. The bodies were charred, you cannot look at them. How will you identify? I went to look for Suman, but it was of no use," Suman's cousin said.

He said the doctors informed them that the bodies will now be identified by DNA profiling.

Suman's mother was found sitting under a tin shed near the hospital entrance.

"It was a family of five. Only three are left. The mother's condition is not good. She is unable to talk. She lost her husband last year. Now, probably her daughter, too, is no more. Her life is shattered," he said.

At least 27 people were killed and 12 injured as a massive blaze ripped through the four-storey commercial building on Friday. Of the deceased, seven have been identified so far. They are Tania Bhushan, Mohini Pal, Yashoda Devi, Ranju Devi, Vishal, Drishti and Kailash Jyani, according to the police.

Twenty-nine people are reported to be missing.

Among those missing is 40-year-old Geeta, who has four children and is separated from her husband.

Shanti, her friend, who was rescued safely from the building, said Geeta went missing after the fire broke out.

"She has four children. Who will take care of them? The kids do not know about their mother so far. We don't know whether she is alive or not," Shanti said.

There are many like Geeta who went missing after the fire and remain untraced, she added.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia visited the spot on Saturday.

The chief minister announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh each to the kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 for those injured in the fire.