The Dwarka underpass where a 32-year-old man died in his burning car on Sunday.
Mr. Rajesh Kumar Misra paid with his life on Sunday, at 5.45 pm when he failed to rescue himself from his burning car. After Mr. Misra’s Honda Civic luxury midsize sedan, suddenly caught fire in its engine while he was driving and the central locking system too jammed the doors, trapping Misra inside the vehicle. To his unluck none of the fire fighting equipment was working in the tunnel.
Mr. Misra died of 100 per cent burns, despite the fact that the 200-metre-long Indira Gandhi International Airport underpass has eight fire fighting devices along each carriageway. He remained trapped inside the burning car for 20 minutes and his cries for help drew the attention of passersby and the guard on duty, who tried to use the fire fighting equipment to save Misra’s life.
The guard pulled out the pipe attached to the fire fighting device, but found that there was no water pressure.
An eyewitness said, “The engine of that car caught fire and it went up in flames in no time. We could hear the occupant shouting for help. He was trapped inside as the doors jammed due to the central locking system. My brother and I tried to pull out the pipe from the device installed in the underpass to put out the fire, but we did not know how to operate it. The guard who was posted also came running and opened the lever, but there was no water pressure. None of the devices were working.”
The underpass has three water pumps, which supply water to 16 fire fighting devices – eight on each carriageway. But none is operational. The fire hydrants lack a notice informing about directions on how to use the fire fighting device. This makes it difficult for a layman to use the equipment in an emergency situation.
Also see – Maruti Alto burns 27 year old man to death in Delhi
Skoda India claims Rapid that caught fire in Delhi, not due to manufacturing defect
Source – Indian Express
Image Credit – Mr Ravi Kanojia
