BAREILLY: Four labourers were killed and as many injured in a fire at a foam factory in this Uttar Pradesh district, police said on Thursday. The fire broke out in the Faridpur area on Wednesday evening due to a short circuit, moments before the daily shift of the factory workers was scheduled to end.
It took around three hours for the fire tenders to bring the blaze under control, Faridpur Circle Officer Gaurav Singh said.
There were around 50 people inside the factory at the time of the incident, the workers claimed.
The charred bodies of the deceased were found only after the blaze was completely brought under control. Three of the victims have been identified as Anup (25), Arvind Kumar Mishra (32) and Rakesh (27), while efforts are on to ascertain the identity of the fourth deceased, Singh said.
The family members of the victims staged a protest against the factory owners and blocked the Lucknow-Delhi highway. Traffic on the road was affected for a few hours due to the protest, which was called off following an assurance of action against the factory owners from senior officials.
Police have lodged an FIR against factory owners Ashok Goyal, Neeraj Goyal, manager Ajay Saxena and five unidentified people under section 304 (causing death by negligence) of the Indian Penal Code.
Four labourers suffered serious burns while trying to rescue the trapped workers and were admitted to a private hospital here, Singh said, adding that the condition of one of them is critical.
Bareilly District Magistrate Shivakant Dwivedi said he has ordered Chief Fire Officer Chandra Mohan Sharma to conduct a technical inquiry into the incident.
The foam factory is located in Jade village of Faridpur, about 20 km from the district headquarters. Goods worth lakhs of rupees are feared damaged in the fire, police said.
