![\"5](\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/thumb\/msid-130760645,imgsize-79792,width-400,height-225,resizemode-72\/neighbours-and-relatives-leave-the-four-storey-residential-building-in-east-delhis-vivek-vihar-where-a-massive-fire-on-sunday-claimed-the-lives-of-nine-people.jpg\")
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\nNEW DELHI: A devastating fire tore through a residential building in east Delhi\u2019s Vivek Vihar early Sunday morning, claiming the lives of nine people and prompting a massive response from 14 fire tenders and over 100 firefighters and cops. While some residents were rescued through balconies and by cutting open rear grills, others jumped from upper floors in desperate attempts to save themselves as the fire spread rapidly.Initial probe suggested that the blaze, reported to police around 3.48am at property B-13, Phase I, may have been triggered by an air-conditioner explosion. It took 4-5 hours to bring the fire under control and the nine charred bodies were discovered by recovery teams during a subsequent search of the building.The first victim, identified as Shikha Jain (45), was found on the second floor. Five bodies were recovered from the third floor \u2014 Arvind Jain (60), his wife Anita (58), their son Nishank (35), his wife Aanchal (33) and their 1.5-year-old son Akaay.As firefighters moved to the fourth floor, three more bodies were found near the staircase leading to the terrace, which was locked. The deceased were identified as Nitin Jain (50), his wife Shailey (48) and their son Samyak (25).Shikha\u2019s daughters Rakshita (22) and Priyal (15) escaped by jumping from the second-floor balcony onto a mattress that a neighbour had placed on the ground.Blaze Engulfs Family\u2019s Anniversary Plans<\/span>Outside the emergency ward at Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, Deepak broke down as relatives tried to console him. Sonali, Deepak\u2019s wife and Nishank\u2019s sister-in-law, recalled that they had repeatedly been pushing Nishank to join them earlier in Manesar. However, he had instead decided to stay back home and go later.Arvind (60), the oldest among the victims, ran a grocery business but had recently stepped back due to his age. Pritesh said the family was deeply religious and had been planning a pilgrimage to Kundalpur in Madhya Pradesh in June.Friends and employees described Nishank as generous and always ready to help. A friend, an architect, recalled speaking to Nishank just the night before about plans for a new house the family hoped to build. That conversation, like so many dreams, now remains unfinished.For Nitin Jain (50) and his wife Shailey (48), the upcoming week was supposed to be a celebration of their 27th wedding anniversary. Instead, a fire turned their fourth-floor residence into a site of mourning, claiming the couple and their 25-year-old son, Samyak.Nitin\u2019s mother Deepa recalled the plans that now remain unfulfilled. \u201cNitin and Shailey were looking forward to celebrating their anniversary on May 6. We had celebrated their 25th anniversary with a full family gathering at a banquet, and all of us were there,\u201d she told TOI , unable to hold back tears. \u201cI had spoken to him just a day before \u2014 he had called to check on me. I was planning to meet him soon. The next thing I heard, at 6 in the morning, was that he had died.\u201dThe tragedy unfolded shortly after the family returned home around 1.30am from a party in Noida. Known well within their community, the family ran a paper business and a restaurant, Indus Flavour, at Cross River Mall in Karkardooma. Shailey, who previously managed a boutique, had joined the restaurant operations to support the family business alongside Samyak. The household had been in high spirits lately, with relatives noting that they had begun planning Samyak\u2019s wedding for later this year.\u201cWhen they found Samyak, he was still holding onto one of them,\u201d said Rajesh Jain, Nitin\u2019s cousin. \u201cIt was one of his parents, but the fire had been so intense they were charred beyond recognition. You couldn\u2019t tell who it was.\u201d The family is also survived by the couple\u2019s younger son, 22-year-old Prasu, who just graduated.\u201cThe family was very religious,\u201d said Nitin\u2019s sister-inlaw, Aastha. \u201cNitin would go to the Jain temple every day; he wouldn\u2019t even start his day without it.\u201dOn the second floor, 45year-old Shikha Jain, a homemaker, lost her life in the blaze, leaving behind a family that narrowly escaped. Her husband, Naveen Jain (48), a businessman who runs a cardboard factory, survived with serious burn injuries. Their daughters, Rakshita (22), a BBA student at a university in Noida, and Priyal (15), managed to escape in the chaos, along with Shikha\u2019s elderly mother and two domestic helps who rushed out as the fire spread.Family members said Shikha, who is remembered as the anchor of the household, tried to ensure everyone else got out before she could save herself. \u201cShe initially managed to get out but went back inside to get her mother and then further help her daughters. By the time she could get out, the fire had already exacerbated so much that she couldn\u2019t,\u201d said Suresh, a relative.Anuj Jain, a 50-year-old relative, said the family was closely knit and added that the daughters are safe and staying with their maternal grandmother.<\/div>\n