New Delhi: A 70-year-old woman was rescued after a fire broke out allegedly inside a restaurant near the Kalkaji-Govindpuri flyover in southeast Delhi in the early hours of Sunday.Fire officials at the spot said the blaze is suspected to have started from a tandoor in the restaurant kitchen that was allegedly left on overnight.The incident comes just 11 days after a fire at a B&B in south Delhi’s Hauz Rani, which also reportedly originated from the kitchen, claimed 23 lives and left several others injured.Delhi Fire Services (DFS) got a call around 4.45 am, following which nine fire tenders and around 54 firefighters were rushed to H Block in Kalkaji.The teams saw that flames had engulfed a five-storey structure that had a basement, ground floor and three upper floors, along with a temporary structure on the terrace.A DFS official said the basement was being used as a storage area, a gym was on the first floor and a banquet hall on the second floor. The rooftop had a restaurant. The ground floor housed the main restaurant and a dhaba. The buildings nearby had commercial establishments on their ground floors, including a clothing store and a mattress shop, while the upper floors were occupied by residents.Amid the chaos, rescue teams found an elderly woman, identified as Sita Devi, trapped on the second floor of a neighbouring residential building. While her son and other occupants had managed to evacuate after noticing the fire, she was unable to come down because of her age. Police and DFS personnel brought her to the balcony and evacuated her, using a ladder.Officials said the situation became more challenging when three to four commercial LPG cylinders near a stove on the ground floor exploded during the firefighting operation. “The dhaba operated in an open area covered with a tent, which allowed the fire to spread rapidly. The LPG cylinders were also kept close to the tandoor,” a DFS official said.A senior police officer said an investigation is on to ascertain the cause of the fire.The blaze was brought under control around 5.55 am. No casualties or injuries were reported, though the restaurant suffered extensive damage in the fire.
