Massive fire erupts at grass-padding factory in Greater Noida, 9 injured

Though there have been no casualties due to the fire, the flames engulfed the whole factory as the cooler grass-pads are highly inflammable, said officials. They added that the four fire tenders took more than a couple of hours to extinguish the fire

Nine people were injured after a massive fire broke out at a cooler grass-padding factory in Badalpur area of Greater Noida in the wee hours of Thursday. Three of the nine people received burn injuries, while six were hurt on their way to escape from the spot.

According to the police, a total of 24 workers were in the factory when the fire started. (Sourced)

The factory is located in Bichnauli village near Chapraula on National Highway 91 and makes grass panels for coolers. According to the police, a total of 24 workers were in the factory when the fire started.

“The factory has living quarters of workers where 24 of them were sleeping when the fire started at around 4.30am. The fire department received information about the incident at around 5am after which four fire tenders were rushed to the spot,” said Arun Kumar, chief fire officer, Gautam Budh Nagar.

Kumar added that by the time the fire tenders reached the spot, the majority of workers escaped the three-storey building.

“Six workers were rescued from the building by the fire department officials while others had already escaped. Three people are critical and have been admitted to a nearby hospital. A few workers got injured while trying to jump out from the third floor of the building in a bid to escape the fire and are being treated as well,” said Kumar.

Though there have been no casualties due to the fire, the flames engulfed the whole factory as the cooler grass-pads are highly inflammable, said officials. They added that the four fire tenders took more than a couple of hours to extinguish the fire.

According to Yogendra Singh, ACP-2 (Central Noida), the reason behind the fire is yet to be ascertained. “It is suspected that the fire started due to a malfunction in the power generator of the factory. But the exact reason is yet to be ascertained. The cause of the fire will be thoroughly investigated,” he said.

Meanwhile, Dinesh Kumar, in-charge of Badalpur police station said that they have not yet received any complaint regarding the fire incident.