An Ahmedabad factory fire at a chocolate manufacturing unit on Ahmedabad-Bavla Road killed a worker and destroyed machinery, raw materials and finished stock, prompting a joint investigation into the blaze and the facility’s fire-safety arrangements.
The fire broke out late at night on the third floor of the Limek chocolate factory in an industrial area along the Ahmedabad-Bavla highway. The affected floor housed the chocolate-making unit as well as large quantities of cardboard and other combustible packaging material, according to a report by Sandesh.
The presence of packaging material allowed the fire to spread rapidly, with large flames and thick black smoke visible from a distance. Fire teams from Sanand, Bavla and Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation’s Prahladnagar Fire Station were sent to the site after the blaze was reported.
Firefighters used a hydraulic crane and hose pipes to attack the fire. The operation continued for about two hours, during which the teams used approximately 100,000 litres of water to contain the flames and prevent them from spreading further inside the facility.
After the fire was brought under control, firefighters entered the third floor for cooling and search operations. They found the badly burned body of a worker inside the facility. Preliminary information indicated that the deceased was from Madhya Pradesh and worked at the factory as a labourer.
Police moved the body to a government hospital for post-mortem examination and began the process of formally establishing the worker’s identity. The report did not provide the worker’s name.
The fire caused extensive damage to the third-floor production area. The chocolate manufacturing plant, machinery, raw materials and finished products were reportedly destroyed, causing losses estimated at several lakhs of rupees.
An electrical-panel short circuit has emerged as a preliminary possibility, but the cause has not been established conclusively. Local police, the Forensic Science Laboratory and the fire department have begun a detailed investigation.
The inquiry will examine whether the factory had a functioning emergency exit on the third floor, whether its sprinkler system was operational and whether the company held a valid Fire No Objection Certificate. These checks will determine whether the facility’s fire-safety systems and emergency evacuation arrangements complied with applicable requirements.
The incident places the safety of workers in industrial buildings under scrutiny, particularly where manufacturing operations are carried out alongside the storage of combustible packaging material. The investigation is expected to establish the exact origin of the fire, the sequence of events inside the factory and whether any safety deficiencies contributed to the worker’s death.
