Ghaziabad: The toll in last week’s surgical equipment factory fire rose to six on Wednesday after two more workers succumbed to burn injuries at Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital. The deceased have been identified as Sushil and Rakibul.
The factory belonging to Eiifer Surgimed, a private surgical kit maker, in Sahibabad Site-4 industrial area was gutted last Thursday, leaving 14 people, including the owner, two women and a child, with severe burns.
The owner of the factory, Kunal Behal, died the next day at Max Hospital.
A fire department official said, “Two more workers, identified as Sushil and Rakibul, succumbed to their injuries at Safdarjung Hospital taking the toll to six. Earlier, on Tuesday, two others -- Vishwanath and Twinkle -- died at Delhi’s RML Hospital and on Monday another worker identified as Rohit died at Max Hospital.” The officer added that six more people are undergoing treatment at Safdarjung Hospital and are stated to be critical.
Ghaziabad SSP Kalanidhi Naithani said that a chemical used for preparing adhesive was stored in a drum. “Preliminary investigation suggests that a blast occurred in the drum and that led to the fire. Probe also revealed that the factory was not equipped with fire safety apparatus,” the officer said.