HOME >> WORLD
Delhi firemen hailed as heroes for response to deadly factory fire
Source:AFP Published: 2019/12/9 19:38:39
Two firemen who rescued 27 people were hailed as heroes Monday after Delhi's deadliest fire in decades killed 43, prompting outrage that safety regulations were yet again ignored.
Firefighter Rajesh Shukla, who carried out 11 people and was injured in the dangerous operation, said he was shocked by the number of people he found.
"No one in the area informed us that so many people were there in the building, some said there were three or four people trapped inside," Shukla told the Times of India daily.
"I saw at least 30 people in the room [on the third floor] with most of them sleeping. A few others were dead... We were told that the laborers slept in shifts," he said.
He added that if the fire brigade had had more information sooner, then "we could have saved more lives."
On Monday, charred walls and smoke-blackened windows bore a grim testimony to the tragedy that unfolded at the cramped premises.
Residents told AFP that all illegal factories in the area pull down and lock their shutters at night, which gives workers time to flee if police raid the premises.
"But this time it proved fatal for them as a lot of precious time was lost in trying to enter the building," a local resident said, as officials from the electricity department arrived at the scene.
Firefighter Ashish Malik, who managed to carry out 16 people from the blazing building, said they "had to take huge risks" carrying people down the only staircase on a rickety floor.
"We rescued workers by carrying them on our shoulders. Some had to be dragged," he said.
Zameel Ahmed, who lost two of his sons aged 32 and 34 in the inferno, was inconsolable.
"Five of my grandchildren have lost their fathers. We have lost everything."
A forensic team walks toward a factory where a deadly fire broke out in the Anaj Mandi area of New Delhi on Sunday. At least 43 people died, with the toll expected to rise, police told AFP. The blaze broke out in the early hours in the city's old quarter, whose narrow and congested lanes are lined with small manufacturing and storage units. Photo: AFP
The blaze early Sunday ripped through a four-story building that housed small factory units in the congested lanes of the Old Delhi district while the migrant workers inside were asleep.Firefighter Rajesh Shukla, who carried out 11 people and was injured in the dangerous operation, said he was shocked by the number of people he found.
"No one in the area informed us that so many people were there in the building, some said there were three or four people trapped inside," Shukla told the Times of India daily.
"I saw at least 30 people in the room [on the third floor] with most of them sleeping. A few others were dead... We were told that the laborers slept in shifts," he said.
He added that if the fire brigade had had more information sooner, then "we could have saved more lives."
On Monday, charred walls and smoke-blackened windows bore a grim testimony to the tragedy that unfolded at the cramped premises.
Residents told AFP that all illegal factories in the area pull down and lock their shutters at night, which gives workers time to flee if police raid the premises.
"But this time it proved fatal for them as a lot of precious time was lost in trying to enter the building," a local resident said, as officials from the electricity department arrived at the scene.
Firefighter Ashish Malik, who managed to carry out 16 people from the blazing building, said they "had to take huge risks" carrying people down the only staircase on a rickety floor.
"We rescued workers by carrying them on our shoulders. Some had to be dragged," he said.
Zameel Ahmed, who lost two of his sons aged 32 and 34 in the inferno, was inconsolable.
"Five of my grandchildren have lost their fathers. We have lost everything."
Posted in: ASIA-PACIFIC