300 containers gutted in Tughlaqabad warehouse fire

Goods worth crores were destroyed when a fire started in an export warehouse in the Capital in the wee hours of Saturday.

Goods worth crores were destroyed when a fire started in an export warehouse in the Capital in the wee hours of Saturday.

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By the time the fire was brought under control, more than half of the 300 containers in the warehouse (Inland Container Depot) near Tughlaqabad railway station were reduced to ashes.

The incident caused heavy disruption of traffic on the Mehrauli-Badarpur road.

Fire officials said the blaze was triggered by a short circuit in one of the warehouses at around 5 am on Saturday. The fire burned down combustible goods stored in the warehouse.

“The fire spread quickly from one compartment to the other, as goods kept were highly combustible,” said a senior fire official. According to senior fire officials, the Delhi Fire Service was alerted around 5.45 am, but by that time, the fire had spread to other parts of the warehouse.

“The fire spread rapidly. By the time we reached the spot, a portion of the roof had collapsed,” Delhi chief fire officer R.C. Sharma, who was present at the site, said.

The firemen rushed 30 fire tenders to the spot and it took them five hours before the inferno was brought under control. There were, however, no casualties reported.

The Container Corporation of India (CONCOR) has set up a high-level committee to look into the mishap.

“There are four warehouses in the area -- one each for import and export and two bonding warehouses. We don’t know the reasons behind the fire but it could have been caused by a short-circuit,” said Anil Gupta, managing director CONCOR.