4 charred to death in Maheshtala

Four persons were charred to death when a fire broke out in a factory at Maheshtala in South 24-Parganas early Thursday morning.

Seven fire tenders were pressed into service to douse the flames and firefighters took around three and a half hours to douse the flames.

According to an officer of the state fire and emergency services department five workers of the factory, where jeans trousers were being made, were present inside when the fire broke out. It seems that they were deep in their sleep and had failed to come out of the factory when the fire broke out.

Some local people saw the flames and informed the fire department. They had initiated the work to douse the flames and were later joined by the fire fighters. The owner of the factory also rushed to the spot.

Panic broke out among the people when the owner told that five of his employees were inside.

The firefighters brought down a portion of a wall and entered the factory. They had managed to rescue one of the workers. But they had failed to enter the room where four others were present. The fire spread fast as the factory was packed with inflammable materials.

The person, who was rescued, was taken to the hospital by local people where he was admitted with severe burn injuries.

The firefighters took around three hours to enter the factory after extinguishing the fire. They found the charred body of four workers there.

Preliminary investigation revealed that the fire broke out from a mosquito coil that was burning in a corner of a room in the factory. 

A portion of the room was also packed with cotton, so the fire spread fast.

A case has been initiated in this connection and a team comprising experts from the state forensic laboratory will visit the spot on Friday.

The firefighters are yet to ascertain whether there was any fire fighting arrangement in the factory.

An officer of the state fire department said that they will also check whether there are adequate fire safety measures in other factories in the area.