Nine persons, including an assistant general manager, were killed in a fire at the washing machines manufacturing factory of Onida at Mandawali in Manglaur area of Haridwar that started late on Wednesday night.
It took six fire tenders to fight the fire. Nine badly burnt bodies were had been recovered and attempts were made to recover at least two more persons trapped inside, police said on Thursday.
The factory officials gave a list of 11 persons who were inside when fire broke out. Amongst the deceased were Sunil Jham, assistant general manager, police said.
The fire started last night and assumed gigantic proportions before the fire tenders reached. Fire tenders from neighbouring Saharanpur and Muzaffarnagar were also summoned.
Fire tenders were dousing the fire for long hours while their progress was being hampered by heavy smoke. “We will try to recover at least two more persons trapped inside”, Arun Kumar Pandey, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Manglaur said. Although the cause of fire is yet to be ascertained, the lack of fire-fighting equipment in the factory or with the local authorities has been exposed and it was high time the government enforced safety laws in all industrial units, said Chaudhary Narender Singh, a social worker.
Uttarakhand Governor Margaret Alva and Chief Minister B.C. Khanduri expressed shock over the incident. Mr. Khanduri sanctioned an ex gratia of Rs. 1 lakh each to the next of kin of those killed. A magisterial probe has been ordered and DNA tests of the bodies may be required, a senior official said.
Keywords: Onida factory fire, Manglaur area, Haridwar district
Onida is a profit conscious company and normally such units have an acceptable standard of safety of people and property. The governments should wake up to the ominous statement of Mahatma Gandhi made in 1908 at the cresendo of growth of imperialist domination based on false premises: Given enough time modern civilization will destroy itself. There must be something which is causing these epidemics of fire catastrophes all over the globe: That something is called the cumulative effects of sinful living inherent in modern civilization: Growth at all costs! To get a flavour for the doom set in motion by modern civilization's greed see the articles on omnicide without paying heed to truth at My complete profile by clicking on google search for Abandon Nuclear Power or Predicting Earthquakes or Collaterals of Climate Change.
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