Search and rescue operations are underway at the site of the collapse. (Source: ANI)Six people, including a child, died after a blast took place inside a ceiling fan-making unit in west Delhi’s Moti Nagar on Thursday evening, sending the building crumbling, police said. Police said the workers were painting ceiling fans at the time. Those who were pulled out were taken to Acharya Bhikshu Hospital.
Additional DCP (West) Sameer Sharma said some people were still feared trapped inside. The Delhi Fire Services (DFS) said a blast took place on the second floor of the two-storey building, when the compressor of a ceiling fan exploded, trapping several people.
Several workers trapped after a blast occurred inside a factory in Moti Nagar. 4 fire tenders sent to the spot and search is underway for trapped workers. Casualties suspected in the case. Fire fighters say that a blast occurred in d compressor of a ceiling fan @IndianExpress
— Anand Mohan (@mohanreports) January 3, 2019
Till late Thursday night, police and DFS were working to clear the debris with shovels, as locals tried to help. The DFS has maintained that a no-objection certificate had not been taken by the owner of the building, and it is suspected that fire safety precautions were not in place as the unit was being run from a residential area.
“The factory was being run inside a house. We sent fire tenders when a call was made around 8:48 pm. Due to narrow lanes and lack of access roads, our fire tenders found it difficult to enter the spot, but still reached in reasonable time,” said Chief Fire Officer (DFS) Atul Garg.
The DFS call was made by a local resident, Sunny Sharma. He told The Indian Express, “I was standing there, around a hundred metres from the factory, and I heard a loud explosion. I ran away from the building and several people started to gather outside. We saw that there were workers inside the factory and we knew that they were in need of help. Around 10-15 people and I used an iron rod to break the main gate and tried to enter the factory, but the debris from the first floor blocked the entrance.”
Sunny said the ceiling fan-making unit is housed next to some factories. “It took time for the fire department to get the people out and they were all unconscious,” he said.
DCP (west) Monika Bhardwaj said a case under IPC sections 337, 304(a) and 288 has been lodged against unknown persons.
On September 26 last year, seven people — four children, two women and a man — had died, while five were injured when a five-storey residential building collapsed in Ashok Vihar. Following the incident, three engineers from the civic body’s maintenance department were suspended for lapses in identifying the “dangerous” building.
On July 17, eight persons, including a toddler, had died after two buildings collapsed in Greater Noida’s Shahberi village.
