NEW DELHI: Two persons died and 18 people were injured after a fire broke out in a factory in Narela Industrial Area on Tuesday, officials said. The blaze was reported at 9.35 am and was doused by around 3 pm by 12 fire tenders and 50 personnel, they said. “The fire broke out at a slipper manufacturing factory on the second floor of the building. Those injured are shifted to hospitals. Two people have been declared dead,” a senior police officer said.
The deceased were identified as Sonu Thakur (24), hailing from Bihar, and Akhil Kumar (20), a resident of Narela. Of the injured, eight were referred to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital and 10 to Safdarjung Hospital, the officials said. Locals said they saw thick black smoke emanating from one of the upper floors of the building. Visuals on internet showed a fireman carrying a person on his shoulder to safety.
A senior fire official said the blast was such that windows of the floor were broken and a person was thrown out of it. He said only the second floor of the building was engulfed in fire. Factory owner Sahil Garg (30), a resident of Pitampura, is absconding. Teams have been formed to arrest him and further investigation is on, Deputy Commissioner of Police (outer north) Devesh Kumar Mahla said. According to police, Sahil’s father Krishan Garg, who owns the property, has been detained.
A case has been registered under sections 287 (negligent conduct with respect to machinery), 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others), 304 (punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code, the DCP said. On Sunday, a 40-year-old man was died after a fire broke out at his shop in west Delhi’s Baba Haridas Nagar area.