Meerut house fire kills six as rescue teams battle narrow lanes and heavy smoke

Meerut house fire kills six as rescue teams battle narrow lanes and heavy smoke

A fire in a three-storey building in Meerut killed six members of one family, including twin infants, after smoke and flames spread through the staircase.

Six members of one family were killed when fire tore through a three-storey residential building in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, on 23 February 2026.

According to Hindustan Times, the blaze broke out late on Monday at Lisari Gate in Meerut. Police and fire officials said a short circuit is suspected to have started the fire on the ground floor, where garments were being stored. The building’s design and the narrow lane outside made access difficult, slowing the response as flames and smoke spread upward.

The dead included a pair of twin six-month-old girls. The report said the men in the household were away for evening prayers when the fire started, and that residents upstairs only realised the scale of the fire once the staircase had already filled with smoke and flames. Neighbours used a ladder to rescue six people trapped on the first floor.

Fire and police teams ultimately reached the site through neighbouring rooftops and broke through a wall to gain access. By then, five children had been found unconscious. They were taken to hospital but were declared dead by doctors. The rescue work lasted nearly two hours before the fire was brought under control.

The report said an elderly relative suffered burn injuries and was admitted for treatment. It also noted that some locals believed the fire may have begun because of a gas leak, but police said the exact cause remained under investigation. The family’s losses were made worse by the amount of fabric stored inside the building, which investigators believe helped intensify the fire.

This was not just a house fire but a rescue failure made worse by building layout, storage conditions and access constraints. Firefighters faced intense heat, heavy smoke and a cramped approach route. Those conditions meant the most vulnerable occupants were trapped long enough for the fire to become fatal.

Authorities said the blaze had been extinguished, the bodies were sent for post-mortem, and the injured were receiving treatment. The focus now shifts to the cause of the fire and whether safety lapses in the building contributed to the deaths.

The available evidence does not support any conclusion beyond those basic facts. But it does show a familiar and devastating pattern in dense urban housing: a suspected electrical fault or gas issue, combustible material on site, a narrow escape route and a family hit before help can fully get in.