In a tragic incident, at least 13 people were killed in a fire at a factory in Sahibabad's residential area on Friday, police said.
The leather jacket manufacturing factory is located in Shaheed Nagar locality on GT Road, which comes under the jurisdiction of Sahibabad Police station. Police said five people sustained burn injuries and are undergoing treatment. At the time of fire, 20 workers were engaged in the factory.
Police said factory owner Rizwan and his brother Nazakat Ali ran the unit in a rented house of building owner Babu Khan. The owners of the factory are absconding since the incident,
police added.
As the workers learned about the fire, they tried to flee but due to narrow passage, some of them got stuck at the entrance. Two of them succeeded in fleeing while 18 workers could not come out. 13 of them were charred to death while five critically injured, were rescued and taken to a local hospital, said a senior police official.
The doctor at Guru Tegh Bahadur Hospital in Delhi said the condition of three workers is very critical. While two other workers are stable, said doctors.
"We received the call at 5.30 am about the incident. Seven fire tenders from Sahibabad and Vaishali were rushed to spot but due to various constrains, the fire tenders could not reach the place due to narrowness of the lane leading to the factory. Still somehow we managed to control the fire after persistent 2-3 hours' efforts. The fire from short circuit was ignited from the conductor of a submersible water pump," said Chief Fire Officer
Ashfaque Hussan.
"Investigation has been initiated in the matter and a criminal case registered against the two brothers Rizwan and Nazakat Ali. The building owner, along with the two, is also absconding. Attempts are being made to arrest them" said Salman Taj Patil the SP
City Ghaziabad.