A 27-year-old labourer died while four others, including three firefighters, sustained severe burn injuries when a massive fire broke out at a plastic factory located in the Narela Industrial area in outer Delhi on Wednesday evening.

According to a senior police official, the deceased has been identified as Sanjan Kumar.

Meanwhile, the injured firefighters have been identified as Assistant Divisional Officer AK Jaiswal, Sub-Officer Tejpal and Firearm Anup Kumar. Police said rescue operations are still continuing as two other firefighters were trapped in the debris after a top floor of the building collapsed on them while they were trying to douse the flames.

According to the Delhi Fire Service officials, they got a call at around 4:40 pm that fire broke out at a room on the ground floor where the boiler was placed. Sources said after a loud blast took place in the boiler room, the fire spread on to the first and second floors of the three-storeyed building. The official said the three-storeyed building was a warehouse where plastic glasses were made.

Eyewitnesses told cops that it was due to the impact of the fire that the top floor of

the building allegedly collapsed and the firefighters who were trying to put out the blaze got hurt and allegedly got trapped under the debris.

Meanwhile, a senior police official of the outer District said since the rescue operations were still going on till late Thursday evening, they are yet to take action. In the preliminary investigation, it appears that the fire was caused due to a short-circuit.

A Delhi Fire Services officer said, initially, at the time of the call of fire, which was at 4:40 pm, they had sent 20 fire tenders at the plastic factory located in Narela to douse the flames. However, later five more fire tenders were rushed in to the spot to control the blaze that had started in the three-storeyed factory.

Officials said out of the four injured, while one was discharged after treatment the others are undergoing treatment at Max Hospital in Shalimar Bagh area. A fire department official said out of the injured, fire man Anup, who received 30 per cent burn injuries was rushed to the Ganga Ram hospital.

An fire fighter present at the spot said it took more than 18 hours to control the blaze.

The NDRF was also roped in after the walls of the factory had started to cave in. “We had to call in the rescue team as it was impossible to clear the debris. We have sought help from the NDRF to remove the mortar,” he further added.

In the morning, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain had reached the spot to inspect the extent of damage. He expressed hope that the rescue teams would be successful in trying to access the building. “Hopefully, the persons trapped inside will soon be rescued,” he said.