Narrow escape for 150 workers after fire engulfs Mundka leather factory Bawana fire: Court rejects bail plea of coaccused
NEW DELHI: At least 150 workers had a narrow escape after a major fire broke out in a synthetic and artificial leather manufacturing factory and its warehouse in outer Delhi’s Mundka on Thursday morning.
Although there were reports that two firemen were injured, chief fire officer Atul Garg said no casualties or injuries to any firemen were reported as the workers managed to vacate the buildings in time.
A short-circuit in electrical wiring in the factory was suspected to be the primary cause of the fire, which later spread to the warehouse.
The fire department deployed 30 fire tenders and more than 90 firefighters to tame the flames and stop them from engulfing the adjacent factory buildings. The firefighters took over eight hours to douse the fire, even as the cooling operation continued till late in the night.
Garg said the factory as well as the godown belong to the same owner. The two buildings, however, are located opposite to each other but divided by a lane.
Garg said synthetic and artificial leather rolls used for making insole of shoes and purses were manufactured in the factory located at Swaran Park in Mundka.
The godown was used to store the manufactured products and package the items.
The fire control room was informed at 9.25 am about the fire and 25 fire tenders were initially dispatched. Five more fire trucks were stationed later in the day, said a fire official.
According to Garg, the fire originated from the ground floor of the factory and the presence of inflammable materials helped the fire spread within minutes. About 80 workers who were inside vacated the building. About 70 workers in the godown also moved out.
“The fire spread out and through an electric wire, reached a transformer installed in a lane outside the building. The transformer too caught fire and the flames spread to the warehouse and destroyed synthetic and rexine materials stored there,” said Garg. Property worth lakhs of rupees was destroyed in the blaze.
A case in connection with the incident was registered. NEWDELHI: A city court on Thursday dismissed the anticipatory bail plea of the alleged co-owner of the factory in Bawana where 17 people were killed in a blaze on January 20, stating that the “allegations against him are serious in nature”.
Additional sessions j udge Sukhvinder Kaur dismissed the bail application of Lalit Goyal, saying that the “matter is at initial stage of investigation”.
Delhi Police said that main accused Manoj Jain – the person who took the building on rent – with Goyal was running the factory where “firecrackers were being manufactured”. Jain is already in police custody in connection with the probe.
“The allegations against the applicant/accused (Lalit Goyal) are serious in nature and matter is at the initial stage of investigation. 17 persons died in the incident. In the facts and circumstances, I do not find fit it a case for grant of anticipatory bail of the applicant/accused at this stage. Hence, the bail application is dismissed,” said the judge.
A SHORTCIRCUIT IN ELECTRICAL WIRING IN THE FACTORY WAS SUSPECTED TO BE THE CAUSE OF THE FIRE