'All 6 lives could have been saved if emergency doors were kept open', claim fire officials

Following the tragic fire break out in a company in Noida on Wednesday that left six dead, the cops have finally identified the bodies of the deceased.

"They would have been saved if the emergency exit doors on the fourth floor were left unlocked," said fire officials.

The deceased have been identified as Jasmeet Kaur (20), Vivek Kochar (36), Indrabhan Chaudhary (38), Sanjoy Das (45), Parikshit Sharma (27) and Ritesh.

Jasmeet Kaur, who was a HR manager in the company hailed from Mohali in Punjab and was just six months old in the company. Kaur's body was identified with the help of a gold ring which her mother gifted her on the eve of her 20th birthday, this year. "She called up the Fire emergency number 101 several times but was unable to contact them. Then she called me and informed about the fire. I also tried the number but failed to reach them," said Rasminder Kaur, Jasmeet's mother. Also, she stated that after a while when they tried her phone, it was off.

"We rushed to Noida after that," said Jasmeet's mother. Kaur lived with her family in Mayur Vihar, Delhi.

Sanjoy Das who was the executive director of the company is being survived by his wife, 11-year-old old daughter and 8-year-old son. Parikshit Sharma, an employee of the accounts department of the company, belonged to Shamli, Muzaffarnagar. His body was identified by a DNA test. "Sharma's younger daughter also died a couple of weeks ago", said his uncle.

Vivek Kochar an employee of the same department was from Laxmi Nagar in Delhi. And, lastly, Indrabhan was marketing manager and hailed from Lucknow.

"All the bodies were recovered from the third floor.

The gate that leads to the terrace, on the fourth floor, was locked. That gate was meant for emergency exit. Those who fled downstairs are safe but the six who tried to escape by running upstairs were burnt.

If the gate was not locked, six lives could have been saved", said Kuldeep Kumar, SFO, Noida.

WHAT DID THE MEN IN POWER SAY?

In the wake of the incident, the Uttar Pradesh Industrial Development minister, Satish Mahana inspected the fire spot on Thursday and ordered a judicial inquiry.

Turning strict on the senior officials of the district authority after they failed to show him Fire NOC and completion certificate of the company, the minister asked them to present the documents of eight companies located nearby. The authority could provide him documents of just two companies out of them.

Following this, he headed towards the Fire Department in sector 2, Noida where he found that there was no Fire NOC.

The company was running on a probation certificate.

The minister said "I have been sent here by UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath to look into the matter. We are deeply saddened by the incident. This is a sheer negligence of the concerned authority. They have not performed their job properly. I have ordered a judicial inquiry into the incident. Serious actions will be taken against those found at the fault.

I have asked the concerned authority to present me the report as soon as possible".

The minister gave the authorities three months' time to inspect all the eight thousand private industries in the district.

They will look into that all these companies are following the fire safety norms and other certificates. After this, a report will be presented to the government.

The minister stated that providing compensation amount to the family members of the deceased will be taken by the government only.

"Am here only to inspect the situation," said Mahana.

Apart from Mahana, Member of Parliament and Uttar Pradesh cultural minister Mahesh Sharma and Noida's MLA Pankaj Singh visited the spot and asked the senior officials at the district level to probe into the matter so that such incidents do not occur again.