Kaikhali factory inferno: About 17 fire engines pressed into action, one charred to death

Kolkata: A person was charred to death in a devastating fire that completely gutted a paint factory and a hosiery factory at Karkhana Gully near Kaikhali Chiriamore area under Airport police station area on Saturday morning. 17 fire tenders along with three portable pumps were pressed into service which brought the fire under control within three hours.

According to police sources, the deceased Kanai Chandra Santra (54) was a resident of Badartala under Nadial police station area.

The hangar of the Kolkata airport was adjacent to the two factories. So the fire fighters took extra precautionary measures to arrest further spread of the fire. The flight operations have remained normal, said C Pattabhi, director of Kolkata airport.

The message of the fire was communicated to the fire department at around 10.30 am and in a few minutes two fire tenders rushed to the spot.

Locals alleged that a number of similar factories have been operating in the area in an illegal manner. Some time back a similar fire incident was reported from a vest manufacturing company under Airport police station area.

"The livelihood of many people are dependent on such factories so it is not possible to close them overnight. We have been conducting a fire audit and citing remedial measures. In case, the units where fire broke out on Saturday are found without fire safety measures, action will be taken as per law," state Fire minister Sujit Bose said after supervising the fire fighting operation.