Fire at battery repair shop in Faridabad suffocates three workers to death
Officials said at least five fire tenders were pressed into service to control the blaze, and firefighting and rescue operations continued for four hours.
Three workers suffocated and one had a narrow escape after a fire broke out in a battery repair workshop, gutting the building, in Anangpur Dairy area in Sector 37, Faridabad, on Saturday, officials of the fire department said, adding that the workshop was operating without a no objection certificate (NOC), and illegally to boot.
Officials said at least five fire tenders were pressed into service to control the blaze, and firefighting and rescue operations continued for four hours.
According to police, the fire broke out due to a short circuit in one of the batteries that was being charged in the workshop. It exploded and caught fire, which spread across the room, resulting in the rest of the batteries exploding as well. Of the four workers in the building at the time, three hid in the bathroom to save themselves from the flames and one ran towards the entrance. He survived uninjured. The two-storey building was gutted within an hour.
Locals in the area tried to douse the flames but could not save the three men who were trapped inside, police said, adding that they lodged a case under Section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the Indian Penal Code against the owner, one Ajay Gupta, at Sarai Khawaja police station on Saturday. He is presently on the run, they said.
Satyawan Samriwal, additional divisional fire officer of Faridabad, said that they received a distress call around 11am, informing them that three workers were trapped inside a building that had caught fire. “We sent our teams there within minutes and informed all the three fire stations--sectors 31, 15 and NIT--in the area to send their fire tenders to the spot. When the teams reached the building, the two floors had burnt down and three of the men, who tried to hide in a bathroom, had suffocated,” he said.
Police said that their teams cordoned off the area for search and rescue operations. After the fire was brought under control, they went inside the building and recovered three bodies. Samriwal said the bodies were sent to BK Hospital for an autopsy and were handed over to the family members on Saturday evening.
Police identified the deceased men by their first names as Satveer, Sunil and Ankit, all of whom belonged to Bihar and lived in a rented accommodation in Lal Kuan in Delhi. Police said all three graduated from Delhi University.
Amrit alias Pintu, the worker who survived, said that the four men were repairing batteries and testing them when one of the batteries exploded. “On Saturday, we repaired six batteries and placed them to charge when suddenly we heard a loud noise and saw fumes. Suddenly a fire broke out and other batteries started to explode too. I ran outside and my friends hid themselves in the bathroom, thinking that the fire will subside within minutes,” he said.
Family members of the deceased men alleged that there was no firefighting equipment in the workshop and no fire exit in case of an emergency. They demanded strict action against the factory owner and compensation.
