New Delhi, March 19 -- Three children were among nine members of a family who perished after a blaze ripped through their four-storey residential-cum-commercial building in southwest Delhi's Palam Colony on Wednesday morning, raising serious questions about the fire department's response amid allegations that a faulty ladder delayed rescue operations by 90 minutes. Three other family members - two who fell while being helped down by firefighters and a third who sustained burns while escaping, after allegedly waiting nearly an hour-and-a-half on a balcony for rescue - were seriously injured. The cause of the fire was not officially confirmed till the time of going to print. Throughout the morning, over 100 firefighters spent nearly seven hours dousing flames, finally extinguishing the blaze at 2.20pm. The dead were identified as Kamal Kashyap, 39; his wife Ashu, 35; and their three daughters: Niharika, 15; Ivani, 6; and Jaisika, 3. Kamal's mother Lado Kashyap, 70; his brother, Pravesh, 33, his sister, Himanshi, 22, and sister-in-law, Deepika, 28, also died. Lado and Himanshi were completely charred. Kamal and the other six members had minor burns and likely died due to asphyxiation, according to their relatives. "The bodies of Lado and Himanshi were recovered hours later. The bodies were completely charred and we could only see their toes.we could not even identify them," said Deepak Sharma, a cousin of Kamal. A joint family comprising 19 members, the Kashyaps ran a popular shop selling artificial jewellery, undergarments, cosmetics, and clothes on the basement and ground floor of their 70-year-old building in Ram Chowk Market in Palam Colony's Sadh Nagar. One member, Sachin Kashyap, inhabited the first floor, which also functioned as the godown; the rest of the family lived on the second and third floors, said police. On Wednesday, only 12 members were in the building. Police said the fire likely started on the ground floor around 6.30am. The first call to the Delhi Fire Service (DFS) came at 6.45am, followed by a police control room call at 7.02am. The first fire engine arrived at the scene at around 7.15 am. The lane leading to the spot is congested and narrow with vehicles parked on both sides. Firefighters said they had to lift up overhead cables dangling in the lane to move their fire tenders towards the building. But relatives and locals alleged that the hydraulic ladder that could have been used to rescue the family members didn't work till 8.30am. Heartwrenching scenes played out as three members, including a child, begged for help from the balcony and waited for the firefighters to rescue them - one of them eventually died. HT reached out to A Nedunchezhiyan, principal director, Delhi Fire Service, whose office shared that the first Bronto truck did not work only for a few minutes. "It takes time to park a bronto and install it in place. However, there was some minor mechanical defect which led to a delay," said a DFS officer. Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced compensation. "The fire incident in Palam, Delhi, is saddening. I extend my condolences to those who have lost their loved ones. May the injured recover at the earliest. An ex gratia of Rs.2 lakh from PMNRF would be given to the next of kin of each deceased. The injured would be given Rs.50,000," the PMO India account posted on X. Newly appointed lieutenant governor Taranjit Singh Sandhu ordered a fire audit of Delhi's localities and institutions, and chief minister Rekha Gupta ordered a magisterial inquiry into the incident and announced financial assistance of Rs.10 lakh each to the families of deceased adults, Rs.5 lakh each to the families of deceased minors, and Rs.2 lakh each to the seriously injured....