NEW DELHI: Around 100 fire-fighters had a brush with death while three among them sustained minor injuries when a three-storey building of a factory which had caught fire in north Delhi on Wednesday came down like a pack of cards.
According to the officials, no casualty was reported. In a camera recording of the incident, fire-fighters were seen standing at the bottom of the ill-fated building as it collapsed in just a few seconds.
Delhi Fire Service chief Atul Garg said that a call regarding the fire incident at Jaipur Golden Transport building on Roshanara road near Pul Bangash Metro Station was received around 11.50 am after which 18 fire tenders were immediately pressed into service.
Parallely, at the same time the local police also reached the spot to assist the firemen and immediately cordoned off the area. As it was a massive inferno, the Fire Department dispatched five more fire tenders to the spot. The residents of nearby buildings were safely evacuated. Even though the flames did not spread out, at least three adjacent buildings developed cracks, a senior police officer said.
When an intense fire-fighting operation was underway, around 1.30 pm, suddenly the whole building collapsed in front of nearly 100 fire-fighters who barely managed to escape from the spot. Still, three among them sustained minor injuries and were immediately rushed to a nearby hospital.
The firemen managed to surround the inferno by 2.10 pm. The official said that the fire was brought under control after several hours of the incident but cooling operations will most likely continue till
Thursday morning. The official said the cause of fire was yet to ascertained, however, certainly there was a massive loss of property.