Dharamshala: Six persons were burnt alive and 12 others injured in a fire that broke out following a blast at a firecracker packaging factory in Haroli tehsil of Una district in Himachal Pradesh on Tuesday morning, a senior district official said.
Six women died on the spot while some workers managed to get out, but many were caught up in the inferno. It is being claimed that there were more than 30 workers inside the factory when the fire broke out.
Officials however, feared that there could be more casualties. Ten workers, who managed to escape, have sustained critical burn injuries. A fire brigade engine was immediately rushed to the spot after the blast and the fire had been contained. The cause of the fire is not immediately known.
Rescue teams which included the police, district administration personnel and medical teams have reached the accident site to supervise operations.
Una Superintendent of Police P Arjit Sen said the fire was reported at the firecracker packing factory at Gurpalah near Bathri under Tahliwal Industrial Area in Haroli tehsil. He said an investigation was underway and a police team had visited the spot.
Six burn victims have been shifted to the Regional Hospital at Una and one is at the ESI Hospital. Some of the critical patients could be shifted to PGI Chandigarh.
Deputy Commissioner Una Raghav Sharma said that a magisterial inquiry had been ordered and strict action would be taken against the lapses that have occurred in such a tragedy happening.
Arvind Sharma is an award winning bi-lingual journalist with more than 20 years of experience.
He has worked with Divya Himachal, Dainik Jagran, Dainik Bhasker, Vir Partap, Ajit and PTI.
In 2010, he was conferred the Himachal Kesri journalism award. He reports on the Tibetan Government in Exile, politics, sports, tourism and other topics. He lives in Dharamshala.
