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Fire in Lakhani plant, 5 dead
Five employees were charred to death in a devastating fire that engulfed the manufacturing plant of Lakhani Footwear in Faridabad on Friday evening.
Five employees were charred to death in a devastating fire that engulfed the manufacturing plant of Lakhani Footwear in Faridabad on Friday evening.
According to police, three employees died on the spot
and two succumbed to burn injuries later at Safdarjung Hospital.
Although five deaths have been confirmed so far, five
people are still missing. More than 35 received severe burn injuries.
The police said the fire broke out in the plant around 5.00 p.m. on Friday.
“They (the employees) were made to work on May Day. Most people caught in the inferno had gone to earn overtime wages,” a senior police officer said.
A case of negligence has been registered against the owner of the plant, PD Lakhani.
The police filed a complaint on the basis of an employee’s statement. The police are, however, yet to question Lakhani in the case.
Senior police officers said a similar fire had broken out in the plant two years ago.
The police are still not certain about what caused the fire but said it could have been the result of a blast in one of the boilers or a chemical reaction.
SSP Faridabad K.K. Rao confirmed the deaths of four employees. Rao said the remains of the three bodies were sent to Rohtak for a DNA test for identification purposes. More than 35 fire tenders worked for over 12-hours to contain the fire.
