City apartment fire: Residents ‘heartless’ as no one came for help, allege victims’ kin | Bhubaneswar News

The charred room of the apartment’s lone security guard Biswajit Behera at the building’s ground-floor parking

Bhubaneswar: Condemning the indifference of fellow residents, the family members of the three victims of Wednesday’s apartment fire in Laxmisagar area here alleged that neither anyone came forward to help them, nor even acknowledge the tragedy.The victims — Biswajit Behera, the apartment’s lone security guard, his wife Sulabha and their minor granddaughter Tejaswini — died of burns and suffocation after being trapped in their room at the building’s ground-floor parking while asleep around 4am.Tejaswini’s mother, Minakhi Behera, voiced her anguish. “They are wealthy but heartless. Had they intervened in time, my child and in-laws could have been rescued and taken to hospital,” she said.“Even after their death, not a single resident came out to offer condolences. My father had served as a security guard at the apartment for over a decade. Since their own flats were safe, they chose to remain indoors,” said Kailash Behera, son of the couple, and Tejaswini’s uncle.Kailash, who lives in Khurda, added when they arrived around 9am, no resident was present at the site. “We knocked on the doors to ask about the incident, but none cooperated,” he said.Another relative, Debaraj Behera, said that one resident informed the fire brigade at 4.41am but then fled. “We heard that residents ran for their own lives without helping the elderly couple and child. Only when firefighters arrived they were rescued and rushed to hospital,” he said.Sulochana Das, the mayor; Bhubaneswar-Central MLA Ananta Narayan Jena; municipal authorities and the local residents from neighbouring buildings echoed the family’s allegations.“We also tried to speak with the residents, but none cooperated with us or the govt officials during inspection,” the mayor said.Local vendor Sahadeb Pradhan observed that some residents emerged out of their flats only around noon, after media and officials had left. “We saw families with luggage, perhaps shifting temporarily due to electricity disconnection. When we tried to talk, they avoided us,” he said.Even when this correspondent tried to elicit a comment from the residents, none came forward to respond.