10 workers burnt alive in spinning mill fire in Haryana

Panipat, Oct 7 (UNI) As many as 10 industrial workers were burnt alive when a fire broke out in a spinning mill here early today.

Charred bodies of nine victims were retrieved so far and were yet to be identified. Efforts were on to recover the body of the one remaining victim.

The police took into custody Rohit Garg, owner of the unit, RR Textiles and a search was launched to trace the contractor who had hired the workers for the unit.

According to official sources here, 16 industrial labourers were working in night shift in the unit. Around 0230 hours, the fire broke out in the main spinning room and the employees got trapped.

However, six of them managed to escape as the flames began engulfing the spinning room.

After receiving information of the incident, Deputy Commissioner (DC) Mahender Kumar, SP M S Sheoran and other officials rushed to the spot and supervised the rescue operation. It took six hours for four fire tenders to control the raging flames.

A team of the forensic laboratory, Madhuban led by its Director, M K Goyal also reached the factory to find out the cause of the fire.

Talking to mediapersons on the spot, the DC informed that families of each victim will be given a cash amount of Rs one lakh under the Rajiv Gandhi Bima Yojna, in addition of Rs 15,000 from the District Red Cross Society. All medical expenses would be met by the Society.

The DC said that under the provisions of Industries Labour Act, other benefits would also be given to the families. An inquiry into the incident was ordered which would be conducted by the Additional Deputy Commissioner Amit Aggarwal.

The health authorities in the civil hospital, where the bodies of the victims had been kept in the mortury, said the bodies had been charred beyond recognition.

Meanwhile, activists of CITU and IFTU led by Anand Jawara and P P Kapoor respectively tried to stage a protest at the place of incident but they were persuaded not to interfere in the rescue operation.

UNI