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Lucknow: The last rites for nine out of the 15 individuals who lost their lives in a massive fire in the Aliganj area of Lucknow were conducted on Tuesday, June 23.

Sukhmani Singh’s cremation took place at Baikunth Dham in Alambagh. Jyoti, Neelesh, and another victim were cremated at Bhainsa Kund Ghat, while Anuchha Rai was cremated at Pipraghat in Lucknow.

Aditya, a victim of the fire incident, was cremated at a local cremation ground in Sitapur. Shahjan was buried at a local graveyard in Barabanki. Sanyam and Surajbhan’s last rites were performed in Kanpur on the same day.

Lucknow Mayor Sushma Kharakwal, after returning from Dehradun, informed PTI that of the 15 deceased, eight were from Lucknow. She added that information about the other victims was still being gathered.

Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak visited the families of the deceased at various cremation sites in Lucknow to offer his condolences and pay tribute to the departed souls.

Prabhjot Singh, the father of Sukhmani Singh, shared with PTI that Sukhmani had called him, pleading, “Papa, please save me, there is a fire,” before the call ended abruptly. He expressed his despair, stating that they continued to try reaching him but received no response. He mentioned that there were 16 children trapped, and they saw four or five jump from the building.

Shatruhan, Neelesh’s father, disclosed that his family had already chosen a future daughter-in-law for him, but Neelesh wanted to wait until 2027 to marry, hoping to become self-sufficient first.

Aditya’s mother, visibly emotional, lamented, “How will we live without him?”

The families of Anamika Samanta and Soumalya Bera took the bodies of their loved ones to their respective hometowns in West Bengal for cremation.

Shubham Mallick, Bera’s cousin, who was taking the body to his native place, told PTI, “Soumalya was to get married in December 2026. I came to know about his death at around 1 am. Since I am working in Hyderabad, I took the first flight at around 7 am and reached Lucknow. His last rites would be carried out at his place in West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas district. I am taking his body there by road.”

He reminisced about a family gathering from a few months back, where they had all met during another cousin’s wedding and used to chat on WhatsApp.

Mallick noted that Soumalya was pursuing a career in animation and left behind his parents, an elder brother, and a sister-in-law. He added that the atmosphere in their relatives’ home was sombre and filled with mourning.

Sanyam Vij and Surajbhan Singh, two close friends who worked as 3D artists at an animation studio in Lucknow and were major support systems for their families, also lost their lives in the building fire.

Kanpur Commissioner of Police Raghubir Lal told PTI that he maintained constant communication with the Lucknow police commissioner after the incident and quickly dispatched senior officers to the victims’ homes once their identities were confirmed.

He informed that Sanyam’s last rites were performed on Tuesday morning, followed by Surajbhan’s funeral later that day.