Man charred to death in massive fire in Delhi’s Narela industrial area

The body of the deceased, suspected to be a factory worker, was found after nearly four hours of fire-fighting.

A massive fire broke out at the Narela industrial area in outer Delhi on Saturday, killing one and leaving another injured.

Fire officials believe factories at Narela industrial area do not follow fire safety norms.(HT/ Representative Photo)

At around 12.20 am, the fire control received information about the fire in a plastic factory at G block of the DSIDC industrial area in Narela.

According to the fire department, initially only seven fire tenders were sent to the spot. As the fire spread, another23 fire tenders were rushed to the spot. It took the fire fighters at least three hours to douse the flames,” a fire official said.

Two men who were employees at the factory were trapped inside. While one died on the spot, the other is recuperating at the hospital. “We found the charred body around 4 am. The man was later identified as Bablu who worked at the factory. Another man, Anil Dubey, who worked as a guard was also found unconscious. He was immediately rushed to the hospital and is now stable,” a senior officer said.

“The fire was brought under control and the cooling operation went on for the next three hours. We will probe the cause of fire,” said a police officer.

Though the cause of fire is still unknown, police suspects that a cylinder blast triggered it. A case of negligence has been registered in the matter and an inquiry has been initiated.

Eyewitnesses that include other workers of the factory have told the police that Dubey was the first one to notice the smoke. “Eyewitnesses said that it was Dubey who alerted the workers inside about the fire and instead of running away, he went inside to evacuate people and in the process he sustained severe burn wounds,” a police officer said. “We will send a notice to the factory’s owner asking him to join the investigation,” he added.