Two die after fire at Raghubir Nagar building; e-rickshaw battery explosion suspected

Sufaid, 17, and Mohammad Samid, 38, died after a fire tore through a residential building on Masjid Gurudwara Road in Raghubir Nagar early Monday.

Delhi Fire Services received the call at 4.42am and sent three fire tenders to the building, which has a ground floor and four upper floors. The fire was brought under control at about 5.25am.

Sufaid, the son of the building owner, and Samid, identified as the owner's brother-in-law, were taken to Guru Gobind Singh Hospital in Raghubir Nagar before fire crews arrived. Doctors declared both men dead.

Fire officials said domestic articles on the first floor were gutted. A preliminary inquiry points to an explosion involving an e-rickshaw battery; police said the vehicle was being charged on the ground floor and the blast may have started the fire and spread it through other floors.

The cause will depend on the findings of the investigation into the battery explosion and the fire's spread through the building.