Fire breaks out at Kolkata Leather Complex tannery, two injured

Kolkata: A fire broke out at a tannery in Kolkata Leather Complex area on Wednesday afternoon. Two persons sustained burn injuries due to this and one person among them is seriously injured. Both are admitted to a hospital near Ruby crossing. The fire was extinguished after almost two hours.

Sources informed that at around 12:30 pm on Wednesday, the locals noticed smoke coming out of a tannery at plot number 163 of Kolkata Leather Complex.

Immediately, nearby people started shouting in order to alert the persons working inside. Some of the workers rushed out of the building but two persons identified as Rinku Mondal and Sagar Das somehow got trapped inside. Fire brigade and police were informed. Within a short period of time, four fire tenders reached the spot and started the rescue operation while a few firefighters went inside with precautionary measures to recover the duo trapped there. Within a few minutes, both the injured persons were recovered and sent to hospital. According to the police, Mondal has been admitted with 80 percent burn injury and Das suffered minor burn injuries.

According to fire brigade officials, as the tannery was filled with leather, fire spread very quickly and firefighters faced difficulties because of wind while dousing the flames. Later, two more fire tenders were pressed into action. It got extinguished around 2:45 pm.

Though it is suspected that the fire occurred due to a short circuit but police and fire brigade officials are yet to ascertain. To mark the cause, fire brigade officials may visit the tannery on Thursday.

Apart from the existingfire fighters, Disaster management Group personnel of Kolkata Police also worked relentlessly to douse the flames. It will be investigated whether the fire fighting equipment were in a working condition.