New Delhi: One person has been killed in the fire in the Himalaya House, a commercial building in central Delhi’s Connaught Place area on Monday. The fire broke out at about 6.20 this morning on the 5th and 6th floors. The building houses several commercial offices. All points leading to the building on Kasturba Gandhi Marg have been cordoned off. The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained.

“We got information of the fire at 6.30 am. This was a serious fire. Renovation work was on in the building. The fire started from a floor and since there was a lot of materials were lying there, the fire spread very fast inside the building. Two persons had been rescued and 1 person has been sent to the hospital, his condition not known. And since the renovation work was on, it seems the fire fighting system of the building was not working,” said a fire official.

The blaze was reported from the 15 storeyed building which is around 50 metres high, on K G Marg near Connaught Place at around 6:20 am and 38 fire tenders were rushed to the spot to douse the fire. Till noon, the fire was not doused.

Half a dozen guards, who were inside the building at the time of the incident, were taken out safely, fire brigade officials said.

Thick plumes of smoke were billowing out of the building and rescue workers were working hard to douse the fire which broke out apparently due to an electrical fault.

Police and fire brigade officials said they were yet to ascertain the cause of the blaze though they suspected it to be due to a short circuit. “There was a lot of smoke. The smoke blackened the sky,” Kamal, an eyewitness, said. Police has blocked traffic on K G Marg from Outer Circle of Connaught Place to Tolstoy Marg intersection on K G Marg.