Narela factory fire: Logging statements of survivors, say cops

According to police, a leak from a gas pipeline on the ground floor of Shayam Kripa Foods Pvt Ltd triggered a fire at around 3.15am

A day after a fire and explosion at a food processing unit at Narela Industrial Area in outer Delhi led to the death of three people, police on Sunday said that they are in the process of recording the statements of the workers who survived the incident, adding that they are also probing the fire-related shortcomings observed at the factory.

A view of fire fighters trying to douse the fire on Saturday. (Raj K Raj/HT PHOTO)

According to police, a leak from a gas pipeline on the ground floor of Shayam Kripa Foods Pvt Ltd triggered a fire at around 3.15am. The blaze quickly engulfed the four-storey building, leading to a blast in a compressor. Of the 23 labourers who were working at the factory at the time, three were killed, with six others grievously hurt.

Officers said that one of the injured is critical as he has received 80% burns on his body.

The owners of the unit, Ankit Gupta and Vinay Gupta, who were arrested on Saturday, were later released on bail as all the Indian Penal Code sections under which the first information report (FIR) was registered were bailable, a senior police officer said on Sunday.

Deputy commissioner of police (outer north) Ravi Kumar Singh said that investigators have approached all agencies concerned, including the fire department, Indraprastha Gas Limited (IGL), and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), seeking their reports pertaining to the incident.

“We will collect all such reports and include them in our investigation and in the charge sheet. The probe is still on,” added DCP Singh.

Meanwhile, the bodies of the deceased — identified as Beerpal Sharma, 42, Shyam Singh, 24, and Ram Singh, 30 — were handed over to their families after autopsy. The final autopsy reports are still awaited, the officer quoted above said.