BBC News, December 8, 2019
A large fire has swept through a bag factory in the Indian capital Delhi, killing 43 workers, officials say.
The blaze broke out at the four-storey building in the city’s congested old quarter early on Sunday morning.
At least 100 people were sleeping inside the factory, which mainly makes school bags, when the fire started. More than 60 have been rescued.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi called the fire “horrific” and sent his condolences.
A local fire chief told BBC Hindi the building did not have a proper fire licence and was operating illegally as a factory.
Local media reported that the owner of the factory, named as Rehan, had been arrested.
‘Cries and shouts for help’
Delhi’s firefighters received the first call about the fire at 05:22 local time on Sunday (23:52 GMT Saturday).
The fire began on the lower storeys, spreading rapidly to the third floor where workers were sleeping.
“We woke up with cries and shouts for help,” said Ronak Khan, a 17-year-old living next door.
“I saw people trapped. We asked them to come to the rooftop so that we could rescue them but they were not able to come up.”
The area where the factory is located – Azad Market – is a web of narrow alleyways, which made it difficult to reach the blaze.
Rescuers had to carry out victims on their shoulders one-by-one with firefighters cutting away window grills to access the building.
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It is not clear what caused the blaze but an investigation has been ordered.
An initial probe and eyewitnesses suggested a short circuit may have been to blame.
A brother’s grief
By Anant Prakash, BBC Hindi, Lok Nayak hospital, Delhi
Mohammad Haider’s brother Bablu worked in the factory.
Haider says he rushed there and was told: “Your brother has been saved.”
“I was relieved and rescued three to four other people.
“But then I learned that my brother was actually inside. Afterwards, I found him lying in the mortuary.”
Mohammad Haider is shaking. Two other men are trying to console him.
“I had never thought that my brother would be separated from me this way,” he says.
“Bablu used to inform me about everything in his life, whatever he was up to.
“Even when the fire started, he called me and said, ‘Brother, please save me’. But I could not save him.”
Victims’ relatives have been scrambling for information. One man told India’s PTI agency his brother was inside.
“I got a call from his friend informing that he has been injured in the incident. I have no clue which hospital he has been taken to,” he said.
Indian cities have often seen deadly fires, with poor planning and lax enforcement of safety regulations major factors.
Indian politicians have been expressing their horror at the blaze.
“The fire in Delhi’s Anaj Mandi on Rani Jhansi Road is extremely horrific,” Prime Minister Modi tweeted.
“My thoughts are with those who lost their loved ones. Wishing the injured a quick recovery. Authorities are providing all possible assistance at the site of the tragedy.”
Home Minister Amit Shah called it a “tragic loss of precious lives”.
Source: BBC News
43 Dead In ‘Extremely Horrific’ Fire At New Delhi Factory
By Laurel Wamsley, NPR, December 8, 2019
A fire broke out at a factory in India’s capital New Delhi early on Sunday morning. At least 43 people have been reported dead.
Many of the victims were asleep in beds in the factory, resting between shifts, when the fire began.
Investigators say the blaze was sparked by an electrical short circuit. Most of the deaths were caused by people inhaling poisonous gases in the cramped factory, The Associated Press reports.
One man who lives in the area, Mohammed Naushad, told the AP that he had awoken to see the flames shooting from a fourth-floor window of the building. He went into the building, and on the third floor he saw 20 or 25 people lying on the floor.
“I don’t know if they were dead or unconscious, but they were not moving,” Naushad said. He carried out at least 10 people on his shoulders.
The fire broke out in a crowded quarter known for large wholesale markets.
Most of the victims were Muslim migrant workers who came from the Eastern state of Bihar, the AP reports, earning as little as $2.10 a day making a variety of garments. The BBC reports that about 100 people were sleeping in the factory when the fire broke out.
The area is so narrow that firetrucks couldn’t reach the factory, and had to shoot water from 100 yards away.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called the fire “extremely horrific” and said his thoughts were with those who lost loved ones or were injured. His office promised financial assistance from the national relief fund to those seriously injured in the fire, and the families of those who died.
Deadly fires are a regular occurrence in India, as zoning laws and safety regulations are often ignored. A local fire chief told the BBC that the building was operating illegally as a factory and lacked a fire license.
Local residents told the AP the building was full of raw plastic material.
Babar Ali, 32, rescued his sister-in-law from the fire. He told the AP that the lives of migrant workers was “a bigger tragedy than their death,” as they struggle to earn a living while working long shifts in unsafe conditions.
“Their only fault was they were poor,” Ali said. “Why else would someone work and sleep in such a congested place?”
Source: NPR
