20210917 Pune: Fire at candle making unit claims one; 4 women hurt
India Sep 17 2021 “Building” “Factories”
Dead : dead 0 or unknown Burnout : 1 to 29 Injured : injured 1 to 9
Pune: Fire at candle making unit claims one; 4 women hurt
Updated: 2021-09-17
Police will study the permits and documents related to the candle manufacturing unit and check if the facility had fire extinguishers
PUNE: A man died and four women were injured in a fire that broke out in a small-scale candle manufacturing unit at the Bhau industries estate near Nanded Phata off Sinhagad Road around 10.30am on Thursday.
Police found a charred body from the office cabin of the unit. “We will confirm the man’s identity once we get a DNA test report,” inspector Sadashiv Shelar of the Haveli police told TOI.
PMRDA’s chief fire officer, Devendra Potphode, told TOI, “We learnt from the people, who managed to move out of the unit, that their employer, Dattanand Digambar Bendre (36), was in the cabin and could not come out in time. All others managed to come out.”
Potphode said the fire broke out during the weighing of sparkling powder used in the making of birthday candles. He said sparks from a bulb, which was on over the weighing unit, fell on the adjacent corrugated cardboard boxes that were also covered by a layer of the powder.
Inspector Shelar said 16 women and two men, including Bendre, were inside the unit and operating on the first floor of a ground-plus-one building hired on lease more than five years ago. He said, “Some of these women were moved to safety and four others jumped from the first floor. One woman sustained a fracture to leg and the other three women suffered minor injuries.”
The police said the local residents heard a blast and shattered pieces of the window glass were seen strewn all over the place and on the road in front of the building.
Potphode and fire station officer Sujit Patil reached the spot with eight fire tenders following an emergency call at 10.24 am. The fire brigade officials brought the flames under control after about one-and-a-half hours.
“The fire spread in few seconds. Some women came to the balcony and got stuck. The iron staircase is on the other side of the balcony. Four of them jumped from the balcony” Potphode said.
Sayara Khan, a worker, told TOI, “I was working on my desk near the entrance. Around 10.30am, I heard the women screaming. Some of them ran towards the balcony. I came out through the entrance gate. By the time I could descend the stairs, a blast occurred.”
The police have registered an accidental death case.
Web Source: The Times of India