NEW DELHI: The drains, built alongside the road to carry unwanted water or waste liquids to the sewage, acted as a conduit for the fire in Alipur as the drains got filled with inflammable chemicals.
Alipur is a congested place with narrow lanes having both residential and industrial areas. It is surrounded by Bawana, Narela, Budhpur, Bakoli and Mukhmelpur localities.
The factory was also built alongside a narrow lane, having a residential area around and a drug rehabilitation centre in the front. When the fire erupted, residents claimed that dozens of explosions were reported from the factory as it stored drums of ‘inflammable chemical’ that is used to manufacture paint.
Moreover, the drains were filled with that inflammable chemical, which caught fire and spread to nearby 9 buildings, including a drug rehabilitation centre.
Vijay Kumar, who lived nearby, said that he immediately went to the spot after he heard a loud sound. “When I reached there, the flames were as high as 20 metre. We tried to douse the flames by throwing buckets of water but it was of no use. Then we brought some sand but that also did not help as the fire was massive,” he said.
He said that the firemen arrived almost an hour after the incident and took 4 hours to completely douse the flames. “We entered the factory in search of people but found burnt bodies which were diificult to identify,” Kumar said.
He said that he along with firemen and rescue agencies kept searching for bodies till 4 am in the morning. “I can never forget this horrifying night. My socks were drenched with blood from the factory floor,” he said.
Another resident Suresh said that there were hundreds of drums with flammable chemicals that were lying inside the factory. “These drums kept exploding one after another, the sound of which could be heard kilometres away,” he said.