Delhi's massive Malviya Nagar fire contained after overnight operation, with help from IAF

NEW DELHI: The devastating fire that broke out in South Delhi's Malviya Nagar locality on Tuesday evening was doused after 19 hours of overnight operation involving at least 65 fire tenders and IAF's MiG 17 jets.

According to reports, the massive blaze was fully doused by Wednesday afternoon.

A truck, loaded with rubber sheets and parked inside a godown in the Khirki Extension area, had caught fire at 5 pm on Tuesday. The blaze quickly spread inside the rubber godown owned by a private company.

Apart from police and fire department, teams from DDMA, Air Force and civil defence were also pressed into service to carry out the relief and rescue operations. 

The helicopter buckets of Indian Air Force made three sorties to extinguish fire. According to an IAF release, a total of approximately 8000 litres of water was dropped to douse the fire.

The release also pointed out that "the first time the Bambi operation was done in an urban situation wherein the nitty-gritty of drop are very precise".

Meanwhile, five fire tenders with dry chemical powder (DCP) foam were also engaged in the operation.

The Sant Nirankari School, a gym and 13 nearby buildings were completely evacuated for safety reasons, Romil Baaniya, Deputy Commissioner of Police (South), said.

Medical teams at Max Saket, Rainbow Child Speciality hospital, Safdarjung hospital, and AIIMS were alerted and asked to attend anyone injured due to fire, he added. 

However, no one was injured due to the fire.

Meanwhile, a case has been registered under IPC sections 285 and 336 at Malviya Nagar police station.