Delhi: Firefighter Dies As Building Collapses After Massive Fire, Blast In Factory; 17 Admitted To Hospital

A firefighter succumbed to injuries after he got trapped under the debris for about 9 hours at a battery manufacturing factory which caught fire early on Thursday (2 January), in Outer Delhi's Mundka area.

Seventeen other people, who were rescued from the building, have been admitted to a nearby private hospital.

"Fire operator Amit Balyan could not survive," the Delhi Fire Service (DFS) chief Atul Garg said.

Balyan was a resident of Shahdhra and he was the last man brought out from the collapsed building.

After nine hour long rescue operation by the Delhi Fire Service and the NDRF, 18 people including 15 firefighters have been rescued, the DFS had said earlier.

According to officials on the spot, fire in the two-storey building started from the basement and engulfed the whole building soon. Seven fire tenders were rushed to the spot.

However at about 9am a blast took place in the building causing a major portion of the building to collapse. In the collapsed building, two caretakers of the factory and a security guard along with 15 firefighters got stuck in the debris.

The officials are though yet to comment on the reason for the blast, but initial reports say, battery manufacturing items in the factory may have ignited the blast.

"We have rescued everyone inside the building but while I was inside for the rescue operation, I could feel the building shaking. The entire structure might collapse," DFS chief Atul Garg said as he helped the last man rescue from the building.

Informing about the incident, Garg said, "A call for fire in a factory was received at 4.23am on Thursday. Accordingly, seven fire tenders were sent to the spot. However the fire was followed by a sudden blast, due to which the building collapsed."

The factory is being run by the Okaya company, which manufactures batteries.

(This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.)