Delhi: One firefighter dies battling Peeragarhi blaze; all trapped persons rescued

New Delhi, Jan 02: One fire-fighter died on Thursday and 14 were injured, including 13 firefighters, during the rescue operation after a battery factory collapsed in northwest Delhi's Peeragarhi following an explosion due to a fire that broke out early in the morning, officials said.

The fire department said they received a call around 4.23 am about a fire in the factory at Udoh Nagar area after which seven fire tenders were rushed to the spot, the official said.

Later on, due to a blast, the building collapsed and people are trapped inside, including fire personnel, a senior fire official said. Total 35 fire tenders are working and the rescue operations are underway, he said.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal expressed concern and said that he is monitoring the situation.

"V sad to hear this. Am closely monitoring the situation. Fire personnel trying their best. Praying for the safety of those trapped," he tweeted.

In the month of December itself, the national capital has witnessed some massive fire breakouts. The incident at Anaj Mandi was worse among them all.

At the Anaj Mandi incident, 43 people were killed and 15 were rescued on December 8 after a fire broke out at a house in Anaj Mandi located on the Rani Jhansi Road during the early hours. The fire was reported at 5:22 AM following which 30 fire tenders were rushed to the spot.

PM Narendra Modi described the incident as "extremely horrific".

Almost all the deceased were migrant labourers hailing from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

Again on December 24, three fire personnel were injured after a fire broke out in a shoe factory in North Delhi's Narela area.