• Notification Date: 28-05-2024
• Notification No: N/A

Official Suffocates to Death in Fire at Delhi’s Income Tax Building

A 46-year-old man died after a massive fire broke out due to a possible short circuit in the AC, on the third floor of the Income Tax building at Central Delhi’s ITO Tuesday afternoon. Seven persons were rescued, according to police’s statement.  

According to DCP (Central) Harsh Vardhan, they received a PCR call regarding the fire inside the CR (Central Revenue) building, which also houses the Income Tax office, at 2.38 pm. A team of officials from the Fire Department and the Delhi Police rushed to the site and brought the fire under control.  

“The 46-year-old man was found unconscious and later declared dead at the hospital. He was working as an office superintendent,” a senior police officer said.  

Fire department officials, part of the rescue operation, told The Indian Express: “We received a fire call around 2.25 pm and eight fire tenders were rushed to the spot from the Connaught Place fire station… the area was covered with dense smoke when we arrived. The fire broke out on the third floor… Most employees managed to get out through the exit points; there are two-three exits on each floor. We initiated an operation and the fire inside the room with the AC was extinguished.”  

Another fire officer said: “Due to the dense smoke, there was a very low visibility on the third floor, and it was difficult to navigate the rooms… few persons standing near the windows were brought down through ladders…”  

About 100 firefighters doused the blaze and rescued the trapped persons. Each employee was brought down using the ladder — one person at a time — while a separate team was deployed to look for missing or trapped persons. “There were no fire sprinklers inside the building as the premises are very old, however, there were enough fire extinguishers… no one used them amidst panic due to the fire.”  

“We found the man’s body inside a room. There were no burn marks on his body, indicating he could have died due to asphyxiation…,” said another fire officer.  

The Income Tax department posted on its X (formerly Twitter) account that the fire broke out inside room no. 325 and the one adjoining to it, which was primarily used for administrative purposes.  

“Immediate evacuation was carried out, and the fire brigade were promptly called in… no physical records were damaged. There was no data loss pertaining to taxpayers as all Income Tax returns are being filed online, along with all related proceedings,” it said, adding that although the fire was brought under control, “the cause is still being ascertained”.  

“Unfortunately, an office superintendent was trapped due to the smoke and lost his life, despite best efforts to save him,” said the department.