Firefighters at the factory in outer Delhi’s Sultanpuri on Monday. (Express Photo by Amit Mehra)
A wooden ladder — balanced precariously between the factory and a house across the lane — helped at least 20 labourers escape the blaze that killed four people in Sultanpuri.
According to residents, the blaze spread so quickly that the labourers sleeping on the fourth and third floors could not come down. “I saw four-five labourers standing on the fourth-floor window of the factory, screaming for help. One of them jumped on our terrace by the time I could do something. That’s when I thought of using the ladder,” said Jyoti Verma (55) who stays on the third floor of the house opposite the factory.
“With help from neighbours, I put the wooden ladder between my terrace and the window and asked them to climb across one by one. At least 20 labourers managed to come out safely with this arrangement,” said Dharmendra, a resident.
Another resident, Karan Kumar, said that on seeing the ladder, a few labourers trapped on the third floor also got to the fourth floor. “There was lot of smoke but our efforts helped save some of them,” said Kumar. Verma claimed the factory had been running for a decade at least. “Workers never spoke to us, but sometimes we could hear them listening to songs,” he said.
Mukesh Yadav, another resident, said he made a call to the fire department around 6.30 am. “There are two exits, but both were shut at the time. People had to use hammers to break open the door, which helped some labourers escape,” said Yadav.