Three children among 7 of family killed in massive fire at multi-storey building in Delhi's Palam
New Delhi, Mar 18 (PTI): Seven members of a family, including three children, died after a fire broke out in a multi-storey residential building in southwest Delhi's Palam area on Wednesday morning, officials said.
Two people jumped from the building in a bid to escape the flames and were admitted to a hospital, they said.
A massive firefighting and rescue operation was launched with 30 fire tenders after the Delhi Fire Service (DFS) received a call regarding the blaze around 7 am from a house located in a building near Palam Metro Station.
"Information was received about a fire in a residential unit, and we feared some people might be trapped inside. Rescue operations were launched immediately," a DFS officer said.
The second and third floors of the five-storey building were residential units.
Visuals from the scene showed thick plumes of black smoke billowing out of the building and rising into the sky, as flames engulfed portions of the structure.
Seven people, including three children, were taken out of the building by DFS personnel and rushed to a nearby hospital, where they were declared dead, officials said.
Two others had jumped out of the building due to the flames. They are currently under treatment at a hospital, they said.
According to Delhi Fire Services (DFS), the building had a basement and five floors, with a temporary tin shed on the roof. The basement, ground and first floors were being used for storage of clothes and cosmetics, while the second and third floors were residential units.
Firefighters carried out intensive search and rescue operations in the smoke-filled building after navigating through the congested locality. Cooling operations were underway at the time of filing this report, while teams continued to search the premises to ensure no one remained trapped, officials said.
In videos circulating online, people could be seen gathering in the narrow lanes near the building as firefighters battled the blaze using hoses and ladders.
Police and other emergency services have cordoned off the area to facilitate the firefighting operation. The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained. Further details are awaited.
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Iran attacks Israel, Gulf countries after Israeli strike kills its security chief
Dubai, Mar 18 (AP): Iran launched strikes toward Israel and neighbouring Gulf countries early Wednesday, with explosions heard in the United Arab Emirates and Qatar and interceptions reported in Saudi Arabia.
The attacks came hours after Iranian state media confirmed Israel's military killed top Iranian security official Ali Larijani in an overnight strike, as well as Gen. Gholam Reza Soleimani, the head of the Revolutionary Guard's Basij force, known for its role in suppressing protests.
An Israeli airstrike struck an apartment building in Bachoura, central Beirut, completely flattening it as day broke. Two earlier strikes on residential apartments in other central Beirut neighbourhoods early Wednesday killed at least six people and wounded 24 others, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.
ALSO READ: Ali Larijani, believed to be running Iran since the beginning of the war, is killed in a strike
Israeli strikes targeting central Beirut have become increasingly frequent in recent days, with or without prior warning. The attacks have hit far from the city's southern suburbs, for which the army issued evacuation notices early in the war with Hezbollah.
The US-Israeli war with Iran has killed at least 1,300 people in Iran, more than 900 in Lebanon and 14 in Israel, according to officials in those countries. The US military says 13 US service members have been killed and about 200 wounded.
Here is the latest:
Latest reports of live fire
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An Associated Press journalist heard loud explosions on Wednesday morning in Irbil city in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq.
Israeli strikes kill 2 in Lebanon's Bekaa valley
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Israeli airstrikes on Wednesday killed at least two people in Lebanon's western Bekaa valley, Lebanon's health ministry said.
The strikes in the town of Sohmor also wounded at least six others, the ministry said.
Islamic and Arab foreign ministers will discuss regional security
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Saudi Arabia, on Wednesday, will host a consultative meeting of foreign ministers from Arab and Islamic countries as the Iran war shows no sign of abating.
The Saudi Foreign Ministry said the meeting in the capital Riyadh will include a discussion of means to “support regional security and stability.”
Gulf Arab states have repeatedly come under fire from Iran, raising anger at Tehran, as well as the United States and Israel, for launching the war.
Saudi forces destroy a drone near the diplomatic quarter
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Saudi Arabia's Defence Ministry says its forces shot down a drone Wednesday morning as it approached the diplomatic quarter in the capital Riyadh, which houses the US embassy and other foreign missions.
Latest reports of live fire
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Missile alerts sounded in Dubai again on Wednesday morning as the noise of interceptors exploding overhead boomed across the city-state. Dubai authorities said all the interceptions had been successful with no injuries.
Israel said it detected a new missile launch from Iran targeting it on Wednesday morning.
