Five missing after factory fire

Kolkata: Five people went missing after a fire broke out in a plastic furniture manufacturing unit in North 24 Parganas district on Monday, a state minister said.

After visiting the site on Tuesday, West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra said the search for the missing people is being carried out by fire officials.

Locals claimed that the missing persons were workers of the factory.

Eight teams comprising personnel from various agencies have been formed to carry out search operation and for clearing the debris. An FIR will be registered by the fire department and the police will take stringent action to book the culprits if proper norms and guidelines are found to have been flouted, Mitra said.

A major fire that broke out at a plastic chair manufacturing unit at Ghola was brought under control after eight hours on Monday. Twenty-five fire tenders were pressed into service to douse the flames.

(With inputs from PTI)