Delhi fire tragedy: Mundka building did not have fire NOC, says Police

Hours after the Delhi fire tragedy came under control, the police said the commercial building that caught fire near Mundka metro station on Friday evening did not have fire NOC while also informing that the building owner is absconding.

The police official said that the building owner has been identified as Manish Lakra.

"The building did not have a fire NOC. The owner of the building has been identified as Manish Lakra who lived on the top floor. Lakra is currently absconding, teams are on the job and he will be nabbed soon," DCP Sameer Sharma (Outer District) told reporters.

As many as 27 people died in the fire accident so far and 12 persons are injured, police said.

"A total of 27 people have died and 12 are injured. We'll take the help of the forensic team to identify the bodies. FIR has been registered. We've detained company owners. There are chances that more bodies may be recovered as the rescue operation is yet to be completed," he added.

Meanwhile, the divisional officer of the fire department also informed that there was only one staircase due to which, people could not move out of the building.

"There was only one staircase and because of that people could not go out. The building did not have proper NOC (from the fire department)," said Satpal Bhardwaj, Divisional Officer, Fire Department.

On preliminary enquiry, it was found that it is a four-story commercial building generally used for providing office space for companies, the police said.

The fire broke on the 1st floor of the building which is an office of CCTV cameras and router manufacturing company. The owners of the company are in police custody.