NEW DELHI: Seventeen people were killed and two injured in a massive blaze at a firecracker storage unit in outer Delhi's Bawana industrial area this evening, a Delhi Fire Services official said, even as the city government ordered an inquiry into the incident.
The police said the people were either charred or got choked to death.
The fire, which started at the storage unit on the ground floor of a two-storey building, ripped through the structure, the official said. The official said that the rescue operations are underway as more people are suspected to be trapped inside the factory. There is a rubber factory on the second storey above the firecracker factory.
Ten women and seven men were killed, another fire official said, noting that a man and woman have been injured. The two injured have been admitted to a hospital.
"The factory falls in the Delhi State Industrial And Infrastructure Development Corporation (DSIIDC) area," the official said.
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North Delhi Mayor Preety Agarwal has rushed to the spot, a senior NDMC official said.
— ANI (@ANI) January 20, 2018
Saddened by the Bawana fire tragedy. Have spoken to officials concerned for necessary action. My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families. May God give them strength to recover from this tragic incident.
— LG Delhi (@LtGovDelhi) January 20, 2018
PM Modi offers his condolences.
Expressing his grief over the "large number of casualties" in the fire, chief minister Kejriwal said he is keeping a "close watch" on the rescue operations.
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) January 20, 2018
— ANI (@ANI) January 20, 2018
The medical superintendent of Dr Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar Hospital said, "We have received a disaster alert and we are prepared to handle the rush of injured patients."
The Delhi Fire Services received a call about the fire at the factory around 6.20 pm and 10 fire tenders were rushed to the spot, the fire department said, adding the blaze has been brought under control.
G C Mishra, Director, Delhi Fire Service, said the building comprised a basement, ground floor and two upper floors. "One body was recovered from the basement, three from the ground floor and 13 from the first floor. One person sustained fractures after he jumped from the second floor to save himself," he said. Mishra said the fire was doused by 9.20 pm but search and rescue operations were underway. "We are taking no chance. We don't have a definite number of people who were in the building when the fire broke out," he said.
Delhi Urban Development minister Satyendar Jain said an inquiry has been ordered into the incident.
Learnt about a serious fire incident in a private factory at Bawana. Several casualties reported. Monitoring the situation.Ordered enquiry
— Satyendar Jain (@SatyendarJain) January 20, 2018