Delhi market fire: Search operation continues, 2 more feared trapped
Feb 16, 2024
New Delhi [India], February 16 : At least two more persons, supposedly labourers, are feared trapped in the paint godown that caught fire in Dayal Market in Delhi's Alipur area, the fire department officials said on Friday.
The death toll in the incident rose to 11 on Friday morning and four persons including a Delhi police constable have been injured, according to the officials.
Director of Delhi Fire Services, Atul Garg said that the search operation at the incident spot that went on throughout Thursday night will continue on Friday as two more persons are feared trapped inside the rubble.
He said that there was also a blast inside the godown due to which the walls of the building collapsed trapping the labourers inside.
Garg further said that the exact reason for the fire is not known.
"We got a call at 5:25 that there was a fire in a factory. We immediately sent four fire tenders which were nearby and later sent two more. It was a congested area and it was a paint factory. When paint catches fire, it is difficult to douse it and unfortunately, I think there were some cans of thinner because there was a blast, due to which the fire spread to some nearby houses in front and also to a de-addiction centre," Atul Garg said while speaking to ANI on Friday.
"Presently, we are told two people are missing but chances are more could be trapped in there. There has also been a blast, the walls have collapsed due to that but the exact reason for the fire is not yet known," he added.
The director said that a team of NDRF are also present at the spot.
"We had the fire under control within a few hours by 9.00 but 11 people died, they were labourers, and they got trapped inside as the building collapsed due to the blast. Initially, we took out three, last night if you see our search operation was continuing, so eight more bodies were taken out in the night and later NDRF too joined the search operation," he said.
"Due to the blast, the bodies have been almost charred and it is very difficult to identify them. There are four injured and they have been taken to Raja Harish Chandra Hospital which was nearby as I said earlier, it is feared that maybe one or two people are trapped inside. Now the light has also come, so now we can complete the rescue. We will do the search operation once more so that no one is left out inside," he added.
The four injured have been identified as Jyoti (42), Divya (20), Mohit Solanki (34) and Karambir, who is a police constable.
As the rescue operations are underway at the market, a relative of an employee who worked at the paint godown that caught fire expressed concern.
"I have come here to search for my brother, Anil Thakur. I have not been able to find him. It was a paint factory. There is no information. His phone has been switched off since 5 pm," Sunil Thakur said.
Further details are awaited.
