New Delhi: Four people were killed and two others injured after a fire broke out at a shoe factory in the Mangolpuri Industrial Area Phase-I in northwest Delhi on Friday night, police said.
The Delhi Fire Service received a call about the blaze around 9.32 pm and rushed 20 fire tenders to the spot. Firefighters and police personnel launched rescue operations as heavy smoke spread through the building.
Six people were rescued from inside the factory in an unconscious state and taken to Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital in Mangolpuri. Four were declared dead at the hospital, while the remaining two are undergoing treatment, police said.
Fire officer ADO Paras Kumar said the fire broke out in the basement of the footwear manufacturing unit, where shoes were produced and stored. Firefighters contained the blaze within the basement, preventing it from spreading further into the building.
“Due to the heavy smoke, we recovered one person from the third-floor staircase and rescued five others from the fourth floor,” Kumar told reporters, adding that the fire had been extinguished and cooling operations were underway.
DCP of Outer District Vikram Singh said the factory owner had been summoned. Police were also questioning the contractor and workers to determine how many labourers were present at the time of the fire.
“The cause of the fire is being investigated. The blaze originated in the basement, after which the fire and smoke spread upwards,” Singh said.
Further details are awaited.
(With agency inputs from ANI and PTI)