Four killed, two injured in Delhi shoe-factory fire

The fire was reported at about 9:30 p.m. at B-293/294 in Phase-I of the industrial area. Six people were found unconscious inside the factory and taken to Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital in Mangolpuri. Four were declared dead at the hospital, while the other two remained under treatment.

The Hindu reported that the Delhi Fire Service sent around 20 water tenders to the scene. The response included rescue operations inside the building, where the six people were found and removed for medical care.

Times of India, citing fire officer ADO Paras Kumar, reported that the blaze began in the factory basement and was confined there by firefighters, while heavy smoke spread upward through the building. The same report said the fire had later been extinguished and cooling was under way; The Hindu separately reported that further search and rescue operations were continuing, a difference that may reflect separate stages of the emergency response.

Hindustan Times reported that Mangolpuri police registered a culpable-homicide case in connection with the fire. Police are investigating the exact cause, which has not been established, according to reporting by Hindustan Times and Times of India.

Times of India also reported that the factory owner was summoned and that police were questioning the contractor and workers to determine how many people were present at the time. The identities of those who died or were injured were not provided in the available reports, and no definitive account of the incident’s cause has yet been established.