Four persons, including two minors, were killed after a fire broke out at a shoe manufacturing factory in residential area of Outer Delhi’s Sultanpuri on Monday morning.
The police have registered a case and detained the factory owner.
The deceased have been identified as Mohd Razi (20), Mohd Shamu (17), and brothers Mahbub Barish (18) and Ayub (17), all from Uttar Pradesh’s Hardoi, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Outer) M.N. Tiwari said, adding that at least 30 to 40 workers were saved as they managed to leave the building. The reason behind the fire is yet to be ascertained, the police said.
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“The factory owner, identified as Biresh Gupta, is in custody. He has been detained for questioning,” Mr. Tiwari said.
The fire broke out around 6.15 a.m. in the three-storey building when all the workers were sleeping, locals said.
Mukesh Yadav, a resident, said he saw the blaze around 6.30 a.m. and immediately alerted other neighbours before calling the fire department and the police.
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“It was pitch dark inside the factory. We could not see anyone. We just started pouring water before fire tenders came and doused it in over an hour,” he said.
The fire department said that 10 fire tenders were rushed to the spot and it was doused by around 8 a.m. though the cooling off process took a few hours more.
‘Running for 10 years’
However, the fire department was called again in the afternoon when fumes started to reappear.
A couple of gas cylinders were taken out from the building.
The neighbours claimed the factory has been running for over 10 years in the residential area.
It had a shoe manufacturing unit on the ground, first and second floors, while the third floor was empty, they said. The labourers slept on the first, second and third floors after work.
The deceased were sleeping on the first floor when the incident happened. A few families living in rented rooms on the second floor of a building behind the factory were among those who successfully rescued around 30 people after they spotted the fire.
“My wife saw the blaze and alerted us. A small window in the factory was open on the second floor. It’s right opposite our house. A worker tried to get out of that window and injured himself,” said Karan (45), a factory worker.
Another resident, Jyoti Verma, told Karan and another person Dharmender (40) to bring a portable ladder and attach it to the window. Over 20 workers climbed down this way and reached their house, they claimed.
Another local, Naveen (28), immediately bought mattresses for workers who were jumping from the front balcony of the third floor.
“About 10 of them jumped on the mattresses. Thankfully, no one was hurt,” he said.
The police have registered a case under Sections 285 (negligent conduct with respect to fire or combustible matter) and 304A (causing death by negligence) of IPC, Mr. Tiwari said.
“The arrest will come to effect shortly,” he added.
Illegal, NOC
When questioned if the factory was running illegally and possessed No Objection Certificate from the fire department, Mr. Tiwari said that teams are yet to ascertain that.