3 killed as fire breaks out in Andhra Pradesh manufacturing unit, say police

The incident happened at Rangachari Street in Chittoor town at around 11.30 pm. The bodies of Bhaskar Naidu (65) and Dilli Babu (35) and another employee Balaji (25) were recovered on Wednesday morning, Chittoor Town-II police inspector C Yatindra told HT.

Three people were killed when a massive fire broke out in a paper plate manufacturing unit in Andhra Pradesh’s Chittoor district late on Tuesday night, police said.

Three people were killed when a massive fire broke out in a paper plate manufacturing unit in Andhra Pradesh’s Chittoor district (Representative Photo)

The incident happened at Rangachari Street in Chittoor town at around 11.30 pm. The bodies of Bhaskar Naidu (65) and Dilli Babu (35) and another employee Balaji (25) were recovered on Wednesday morning, Chittoor Town-II police inspector C Yatindra told HT .

He said police had received a call on “Dial 100” from one of the relatives of the victims at around midnight about the fire. “We rushed to the spot along with a fire tender, but the entire two-storeyed building was engulfed in massive flames. It took three to four hours to extinguish the fire,” Yatindra said.

He said huge stocks of paper plates stored in the front hall of the manufacturing unit, besides large quantity of material used for making the plates were completely gutted in the fire.

“The exact cause of the fire is not immediately known. We are trying to ascertain whether it was due to short circuit or any other inflammable material catching fire,” the inspector said.

None of the three victims had any burn injuries on their bodies. “They tried to hide themselves in a washroom in the rear side of the building, but apparently died of suffocation due to inhalation of gases emanating from the burning of the material used for making of paper plates. They could not come out of the building due to massive flames engulfing it from all sides,” Yatindra said.

He said except these three, there were no other persons staying in the factory at the time of accident. The property that was damaged due to the fire was worth around ₹10 lakh.

“We have booked a case of accidental death and are investigating. We have sent the bodies to Chittoor government hospital for post mortem,” he said.