New Delhi: A lethal explosion in a crackers factory operating illegally in the Burari area left five people seriously injured Sunday afternoon, an official of the Delhi Fire Services said. Three of them suffered severe burns, while a fireman was wounded in his hand while trying to contain the blaze, DFS chief Atul Garg said.
"The fire broke out at 4.23 pm on the ground floor of a building located in Pradhan Enclave in Burari area. The premises housed an illegal crackers manufacturing unit, with residential rooms on the first floor," Garg in a statement said. According to the DFS, the explosion sparked a fire, resulting in chaos in the densely populated area.
He said five fire tenders were immediately rushed to the site and the operation is still underway. One of the injured was Himanshu, 27, who suffered almost 100 per cent burns. Anand, 24 and Ravi Prakash, 22, suffered 25 per cent burns, while Vijay Pandey, 22, had his body 40 per cent burned.
All those severely injured were rushed to Burari Hospital and later referred to LNJP Hospital for advanced treatment. The other victims are receiving treatment at Burari Hospital, Garg said. During the operation, fire officer Devender Sandhu from JHP Fire Station sustained an injury to his right hand due to a secondary explosion.
He was given first aid by ambulance staff on-site, the DFS chief said. The fire department said that the ground floor of the building, spanning 500 square yards, was illegally used for manufacturing crackers. Explosives stored in the factory aggravated the fire. The people living on the first floor were unharmed and evacuated in time.
Witnesses described the explosions as loud, leaving a thick smoke in its wake that engulfed the area. Meanwhile, Delhi Police in a statement said that the fire broke out at an event management company's storage facility. None of the injured are currently fit to provide statements, read the statement.
Preliminary investigations suggested that the fire started in wedding items, such as clothing and cold pyrotechnics, stored at the facility. The blaze rapidly engulfed the area. Police isolated the site for safety reasons and are trying to ascertain the cause of the fire.
