New Delhi: The number of fatalities in the fire incident at a multi-storey residential building in Delhi's Palam area on Wednesday has risen to nine, prompting Chief Minister Rekha Gupta to initiate a magisterial investigation. 

A major fire broke out in a cloth shop located in Ram Market, Palam, in the morning, leaving at least nine people dead and several others injured.

The information regarding the incident was received at Police Station Palam Village at around 7.04 a.m., following which the Station House Officer (SHO) and police staff rushed to the spot. The fire erupted in a four-storey building situated at WZ-124A, Ram Chowk Market. According to officials, the basement, ground floor, and first floor of the building housed a cloth and cosmetic showroom owned by Rajender Kashyap, who is also the Market Pradhan, while his family resided on the upper floors.

Taking to the social media platform X earlier, Gupta said she was "extremely distressed to learn about the unfortunate fire incident at a multi-story residential building at Palam", adding that the district administration, Delhi Fire Service Department and Delhi Police were leading the rescue operation.

She said that a magisterial inquiry has been ordered to investigate the incident.

"Praying for everyone's safety," she said in her post.

The rescue teams managed to evacuate some people from the building and shift them to nearby hospitals. However, casualties were reported from multiple medical facilities.

At Manipal Hospital, eight people -- identified as Pravesh (33), Kamal (39), Ashu (35), Lado (70 ), Himanshi (22) and three minor girls aged 15, 6, and 3 years -- were declared dead.

At IGI Hospital, one woman, identified as Deepika (approx. 28 years old), was declared brought dead; one male, Anil (approx. 32 years old) and one girl (two years old) are undergoing treatment.

At Safdarjung Hospital, a man named Sachin (29) was admitted with around 25 per cent burn injuries.

A massive emergency response was launched, with around 20 fire tenders and 11 CATS ambulances deployed at the site. Teams from BSES, Air Force Police, and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) also joined the firefighting and rescue operations.

The fire has since been brought under control after intensive efforts. A Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) team has been called in to inspect the site, while all concerned agencies and local police remain present. Further investigation is underway, and more details are awaited.