Mother and son die in Shahdara house fire; 4 other family members sustain injuries

A tragic fire broke out early Friday morning in a residential building in the Shahdara area of Delhi, claiming the lives of 42-year-old Shilpi Gupta and her 16-year-old son, Pranav Gupta. Four other family members sustained injuries in the incident, officials reported.

The Delhi Fire Service (DFS) received the distress call at 5:25 AM, deploying six fire tenders to the site. The blaze had erupted on the third and fourth floors of the four-storey building in Bholanath Nagar. Firefighters managed to bring the flames under control after two hours of intense efforts.

"Unfortunately, the charred bodies of Shilpi and Pranav were found inside the house," confirmed a police officer at the scene.

The injured victims — Kailash Gupta (72), his wife Bhagwati Gupta (70), their son Manish Gupta (45), and Manish’s son Parth (19) — are currently undergoing treatment at GTB Hospital. Two other children were rescued during the firefighting efforts and have been discharged after receiving medical care.

Shilpi and Pranav were Manish Gupta’s wife and son, respectively. Manish remains in critical condition, officials noted. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Shahdara) Prashant Gautam suggested that the mother and son likely died due to asphyxiation. Forensic experts have been called in to investigate further.

Manish Kumar, the father of the rescued children, expressed frustration over the delayed response of fire services, blaming the loss of lives on their late arrival. Neighbor Shobhit Gupta echoed this sentiment, adding that narrow lanes obstructed fire vehicles, causing them to arrive 1.5 hours after the fire began.

While the exact cause of the fire is yet to be confirmed, authorities suspect an electrical short circuit and are continuing their investigation.