New Delhi: Delhi police have booked the owner of a paint factory on charges of "culpable homicide" after an explosion triggered fire that broke out in his facility charred 11 persons to death, while injuring four others, on Thursday night. Police said the building partially collapsed trapping the workers inside.
Police identified the suspect as Akhil Jain, who runs a paint factory in Dayal Market of Alipur area. Akhil, a resident of Sonipat in Haryana, has been booked under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide), ANI quoted a senior official with Delhi police as saying.
Most of the deceased are believed to be the labourers, who worked in the factory which also housed a chemical godown, police said, adding that there was an explosion at the factory. The blaze from the explosion sparked a fire that raged on when the labourers at the factory were at work. According to police, the fire that broke out in the paint godown at around 5.30 pm spread to a number of other buildings, including the neighbouring 'Nasha Mukti Kendra', where 4-5 people were trapped in the fire.
The four injured included a police constable from Alipur police station who was involved in the rescue operation, police said. The injured constable identified as Karamveer has been admitted to Safdarjung Hospital. The other three injured have been referred to LNJP hospital, they said.
Police have recovered 11 charred bodies including 10 males and one female from the paint factory and have moved them to Babu Jagjivan Ram Memorial Hospital for preservation. Efforts are on to identify the deceased, they said, adding that the Delhi Fire Services and a team from the National Disaster Response Force. The rescue operations in the burnt buildings were undertaken by the Delhi Fire Services and a team from the National Disaster Response Force. Police are yet to ascertain the cause of the fire accident.
Meanwhile, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal described the incident as very sad. "The incident of fire in a paint factory in Alipore last night is very sad. This morning I visited the incident site and spoke to the victims. The accident was very serious and unfortunate in which 11 people lost their lives," Kejriwal said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
"The government will give a compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the families of the deceased, Rs 2 lakh to the seriously injured and Rs 20 thousand to the moderately injured. We are ordering an investigation into this matter and also how the paint factory was running in a residential area. People complained that the fire brigade arrived late, this will also be investigated and action will be taken against the culprits," added Kejriwal.
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