Devastating fires in Delhi and Indore on Wednesday (March 18, 2026) killed 17 people, many of them children, and gutted several shops in busy markets in Ahmedabad and Chandigarh, prompting panic and massive firefighting operations.
Authorities rushed teams to contain the flames and rescue those trapped, ordered an investigation into the incidents and announced financial compensation for the victims.
Nine family members, including three children and a 70-year-old woman, were killed in the national capital after a massive fire engulfed a multi-storey residential and commercial building in southwest Delhi’s Palam area.
Three others were injured, two of whom jumped from a building in Ram Chowk Market near Palam Metro station in a desperate attempt to escape the flames.
The building housed a fabric and cosmetics showroom on the basement, ground floor and first floor, while its owner Rajender Kashyap lived on the second and third floors with his family.
Neighbors said the fire initially started on the first floor but quickly spread, possibly due to the presence of perfumes and other beauty products in the store, which are highly flammable.
Several family members were not in the house at the time of the incident, which occurred around 7 a.m. Mr. Rajender was in Goa while one of his sons and his family were away on vacation, officials said.
Mr Rajender’s wife Lado (70), their sons Pravesh (33) and Kamal (39), Kamal’s wife Ashu (35) and their three daughters aged 15, six and three died in the fire. Mr Rajender and Lad’s daughter Himanshi (22) and daughter-in-law Deepika (28) also died in the fire.
Anil, 32, the third son, dropped his two-year-old daughter from the third floor as he tried to lower her to the second floor where there was ladder access. Soon he jumped too. Both sustained injuries and are receiving treatment, officials said.
The couple’s fourth son, 29-year-old Sachin, who jumped into a neighboring building, also sustained injuries and is being treated for about 25% burns at Safdarjung Hospital.
Around 30 fire engines and 11 ambulances were pressed into service along with police, BSES, air force police and NDRF personnel in a massive fire and rescue operation.
Images from the scene showed thick plumes of black smoke billowing from the building and rising into the sky, with flames engulfing parts of the structure as firefighters battled the blaze in the crowded market area.
The fire was extinguished around 2:20 p.m., and then cooling began.
Eyewitnesses described frantic rescue efforts by local residents who tried to break windows and even a wall from a neighboring building to reach those trapped inside, but thick smoke prevented access.
Some residents reported delays due to technical problems with firefighting equipment, although officials did not confirm this. The exact cause of the fire is not yet known.
In Indore, Madhya Pradesh, eight members of a family were killed after a fire broke out in a three-storey house of a local businessman following an explosion at an electric vehicle (EV) charging station in front of the building.
Police said a charging car outside the house caught fire after the explosion and flames quickly spread to the building.
Investigators said they found traces of 10 to 11 LPG cylinders stored in a house in Brajeshwari Colony and explosions of some of these gas containers fueled the fire that broke out around 4 am.
The deceased have been identified as Tanmay, 12, Rashi Sethia, 12, Simran, 30, Tinu, 35, Suman Sethia, 60, Vijay Sethia, 65, Chhotu Sethia, 22, and Manoj Pugalia,
Pugalia’s close relatives were also in the house at the time of the fire and three people were rescued by breaking the grating of the building, they said.
Expressing deep grief over the two fires, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an ex gratia of ₹2 lakh from the PM National Relief Fund for the next of kin of each deceased and ₹50,000 for the injured.
Mr. Modi expressed his condolences to those who lost their loved ones and prayed for the speedy recovery of the injured.
After the fires, authorities in both cities began to act.
Delhi Governor Taranjit Singh Sandhu, presiding over his first meeting of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), directed a comprehensive fire audit across the city.
In a post on X, the LG branch said: “Discussed today’s unfortunate residential fire; conducted a comprehensive fire audit across locations and institutions to strengthen prevention.” Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, who was also part of the high-level meeting, ordered a judicial inquiry into the incident and announced an ex gratia of ₹ 10 lakh to the families of the adult deceased and Rs 5 lakh to the next of kin of those who were minors and died in the fire.
Alarmed by the incident, the Madhya Pradesh government has announced a detailed inquiry into the matter by a committee of experts and drafting of a standard operating procedure (SOP) for charging electric cars.
Chief Minister Mohan Yadav expressed grief over the incident, calling it “extremely heartbreaking”.
In Gujarat’s Ahmedabad, a fire engulfed more than 25 shops in a wholesale fabric market in the Kalupur area, although no casualties were reported, officials said.
The fire was reported at 1:35 pm and about 36 fire tenders were dispatched to the market, fire department director Amit Dongre, Revdi Bazaar, told PTI.
The fire, the cause of which was not immediately known, spread quickly due to the large amount of clothes stored in the shops, according to Dongre.
Meanwhile, in Chandigarh, a fire broke out at a shop in Sector 22 here, one of the city’s busiest commercial zones. No casualty has been reported yet.
The fire started on the first floor of the store and spread to the adjacent shops.
The official said more than 15 fire engines have been pressed into service and more may be deployed. Fire engines were also called from Mohali in Punjab.
The official said that the presence of some chemicals in one of the shops increased the intensity of the fire.
The market is a hub for mobile phones and other electronic items and experiences a large number of customers every day.
