Fire in mask manufacturing factory kills one

A 50-year-old man was killed after a fire broke out in a mask manufacturing factory in Mayapuri industrial area in west Delhi on Saturday, police and fire officials

A 50-year-old man was killed after a fire broke out in a mask manufacturing factory in Mayapuri industrial area in west Delhi on Saturday, police and fire officials said. Two others were managed by rescue teams.

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Police said the man — identified as Yugal Kishore — died due to inhaling toxic smoke. He did not suffer burns, rescuers said.

Fire officials said that two gates – one iron and another wooden – of the factory located on the third floor of a building were locked from inside and three men were sleeping inside, when the fire broke out at around 3.30am. The rescue team of the fire department took a couple of minutes to break open the two gates and douse the flames. Police are probing the cause of the fire.

Six fire tenders and nearly 15 firefighters were involved in the rescue operation and their prompt action saved the lives of two men who were trapped inside the factory, said Delhi Fire Services (DFS) chief Atul Garg.

Ravinder Singh, additional division officer (DFS) said that the fire was not big and the flames were doused in less than half an hour. Since the machines and raw materials used for making masks had caught fire, it caused smoke that engulfed the entire factory and spread in nearly 200 square yard on the third floor, he said.

Another fire officer said the rescuers first broke open the iron and wooden gates and rescued two workers -- Feroz Ansari,24, and Aman Ansari,18, -- who had fallen semi-unconscious, after inhaling smoke.

“The two men were in the main hall. They soon regained consciousness and told the firefighters that the tailor, Jugal Kishore, was in a room on the same floor. The room’s door was locked from inside. The rescue team broke it open and found the tailor lying unconscious on the floor,” said the officer.

Kishore was rushed to Deen Dayal Upadhyay hospital in a CATS ambulance. He was declared brought dead at the hospital later, said additional deputy commissioner of police (west) Subodh Kumar Goswami.

“We have registered a case of negligent conduct with respect to fire or combustible matter and death by negligence under Indian Penal Code’s Section 285 and 304A at the Mayapuri police station,” said Goswami.

Police and fire officials suspect that the fire may have been caused either due to a short circuit or the workers burning something in the factory to keep themselves warm.