A fire in the basement of a shoe factory in Delhi’s Mangolpuri Industrial Area killed four people and injured two others on Friday night, while police began investigating the cause of the blaze and the number of workers present at the premises.
The fire was reported at around 9:30 pm in Phase 1 of the Mangolpuri industrial area. Police and fire department teams reached the factory and started a rescue operation. Firefighters brought six people out of the building in an unconscious condition and shifted them to Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital.
Doctors at the hospital declared four of the rescued people dead. The remaining two are undergoing treatment, according to the report. The identities and other details of the deceased and injured were not provided in the supplied information.
Assistant Divisional Officer Paras Kumar said the fire started in the basement, where shoes were manufactured and stored. He said the fire department received information about the incident at around 9:31-9:32 pm and sent multiple fire tenders to the site.
According to Kumar, heavy smoke had spread upwards through the building. Firefighters rescued one person from the staircase near the third floor and five others from the fourth floor. The fire was contained in the basement and did not spread to the rest of the building, he said.
The fire was later extinguished, and cooling operations were continuing at the site. Cooling is carried out after a fire to reduce the risk of concealed heat or smouldering material triggering a fresh outbreak.
Outer District Deputy Commissioner of Police Vikram Singh said police had issued a summons to the factory owner. Investigators are questioning the contractor and workers to establish how many people were inside the factory when the fire broke out. Police are also examining the cause of the fire.
Singh said the blaze began in the basement before fire and smoke moved upwards, creating dense smoke inside the premises. The inquiry will also establish the factory’s workforce and the circumstances in which the workers became trapped, based on the information currently available.
The incident brings renewed attention to safety conditions in Delhi’s industrial areas, where manufacturing and storage activities operate in built-up neighbourhoods. In this case, the fire department’s account indicates that the basement was used for both making and storing shoes, while the police investigation is still determining the number of workers present and the cause of the fire.
The authorities have not announced any further action beyond the summons and investigation reported so far. Police questioning of the owner, contractor and workers is expected to provide further details about the factory’s operations and the circumstances leading to the deaths.
