At least 26 people died on Friday in a fire that broke out in a four-story building near a railway station in city state Delhi’s western suburb, police said in a statement.
Television footage showed smoke billowing out of the windows of the building, with firefighters helping those trapped in the upper floors to escape as hundreds watched.
Read more: Watch: Delhi autorikshaw drivers grow roof garden to beat heat
Police broke windows of the building to help rescue those inside “and got the injured admitted in the hospital,” a police statement said, adding that 12 injured were admitted in a local hospital.
#BREAKING #VIDEO: On the scene of a fire in one of the buildings at Vantage Pointe West Apartments in Delhi Hills area. Multiple ambulances, police vehicles. Big presence. #wlwt @wlwt pic.twitter.com/Igtob9kW7H
— Dan Griffin FOX 13 ☀️ (@DG_Reports) October 9, 2019
The fire broke out in the first floor of the building that houses the office of a surveillance camera manufacturing company, police said.
The building, which rents out office space, is located near a railway station in western Delhi suburb Mundka and is about 23 kilometers (14 miles) away from the national capital New Delhi.
Read more: Indian court bars demolition of Muslim shops in Delhi
Over 50 people have been rescued and firefighters are working to control the fire, the police said, adding that ambulances were also on site.
“More than 30 fire tenders of fire brigade were pressed into service to control the fire,” the police said.
Reuters with additional input from GVS News Desk