NEW DELHI: As many as 11 people were charred to death while four others sustained burn injuries after a massive fire broke out in a paint factory in Delhi's Alipur area on Thursday evening which later spread to multiple adjacent shops.
The injured were identified as Jyoti (42), Divya (20), Mohit Solanki (34) and Constable Karambir.
Delhi Fire Service Director, Atul Garg, informed that a call regarding a blaze at a factory in Dayal Market was received at 5:26 p.m. on Wednesday after which a total of 22 fire tenders were pressed into service.
"The fire was in two paint and chemical godowns, one Nasha Mukti Kendra which was opposite to the godown and eight different shops," Garg said.
Parallely, a police team also received information about the incident at the same time and rushed to the spot.
DCP (outer north) Ravi Kumar Singh said when the police team reached the place of incident, they saw that the fire had spread to several other buildings, including the neighbouring 'Nasha Mukti Kendra', where 4-5 people were trapped in fire.
"Constable Karamveer of Alipur police station rushed to the top of the 'Nasha Mukti Kendra' putting his own life in danger and managed to get the trapped people out. He sustained injuries, including burn injuries and is now admitted to Safdarjung Hospital," the DCP said.
The other three injured were refered to Lok Nayak Jan Prakash hospital.
A team of National Disaster Response Force was also deployed which along with the firemen conducted a search operation in the burnt buildings.
"A total of 11 charred bodies, which include 10 male and 1 female have been recovered from the paint factory. The bodies are being preserved at BJRM hospital and efforts are being made to identify the deceased," the senior officer said.
Meanwhile, the police have registred a case under relevant sections of law and have begun probing the incident, the official added.