Six missing in Delhi shoe factory fire: Forensic team finds charred remains inside building

Days after a fire engulfed a three-storey shoe factory in Outer Delhi’s Udyog Nagar, a team from the Forensic Science Lab (FSL) Friday collected charred remains from the building.

On Monday, police and Delhi Fire Services (DFS) had rescued six workers while six men still remain missing. Parvinder Singh, DCP (outer district), said,” The team collected one set of remains from the second floor of the building. We have not been to identify the body as it is highly burnt. The remains have been sent to a mortuary for DNA testing and examination.”

Soon after the fire, the building had been declared “dangerous” by DFS and MCD as the roof had caved in and the structure was unstable. Officials said this, along with extreme heat inside the building, hampered search operations.

Four days on, police said they have started search operation on upper floors and will send teams to all areas of the building. Fire officials said the building won’t collapse as of now.

The families of the missing workers – Abhishek, Neeraj, Shamshad, Vikram, Raju, and Ajay – have filed a missing person’s report.

Meanwhile, factory owner Pankaj Garg is still on the run. He has been booked under sections of culpable homicide.

While two forensic teams from Rohini have been deployed to find and collect biological evidence to identify the missing workers, officials said this is difficult as the remains are “highly decomposed or charred”. FSL teams are looking for skeletal remains to send for testing.

DFS Chief Atul Garg said that over 140 firemen and 35 fire tenders were deployed on the day of the incident. “Our teams are working with police in the search operation. It’s a difficult task since portions of the building have collapsed,” he said.