Fire at a plastic godown in Delhi claims 17 lives, inquiry ordered

At least 17 people were killed in a fire in a building in Delhi's Bawana Industrial Area on Saturday. The fire is said to have broken out in a plastic godown, said reports.

As many as 10 fire tenders have been rushed to the spot to douse the flames. The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained.

"We received 3 calls from Bawana - Sector 1 a plastic factor, 2nd from Sector 5 a cracker storage & Sector 3 a furnace oil storage. All casualties are from Sector 5 fire. Fire is completely under control now. We recovered 17 bodies so far," news agency ANI quoted GC Mishra, Director Delhi Fire Services, as saying.

Delhi Minister Satyendra Jain expressed grief over the incident and said the government is keeping a close watch rescue operations.

"The fire is under control now. The fire had broken out around 3.30 pm and was contained around 7. We have contained the fire on the second floor," ANI quoted a fire officer as saying.

Meanwhile, Union Health Minister JP Nadda has directed Health Secretary to provide immediate assistance to victims of Bawana fire tragedy. Nadda also asked AIIMS trauma centre to be on alert.

Mayor Preety Agrawal has also reached the spot.

"I received information about the incident on phone at around 9 pm and we immediately rushed to the spot. Situation is under control now," Agrawal said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to twitter to express his grief over the loss of lives due to the fire.

"Deeply anguished by the fire at a factory in Bawana. My thoughts are with the families of those who lost their lives. May those who are injured recover quickly," PMO twitter handle quoted Modi as saying.

On January 14, a fire had broken out in a slum area in southeast Delhi's Sriniwaspuri leaving four persons severely injured. The blaze had started due to LPG leakage.

OneIndia News