Hope fading as firefighters find charred remains

  • | Wednesday | 23rd June, 2021

Fire officials and the police have now said that due to the high temperatures inside the building and the debris, chances are they will only find mortal remains in the rubble. Another fire official said that smoke was still coming out from the basement of the building on Tuesday. The Delhi Police have now added the names of the missing workers as victims in the FIR against the factory owner. Rajesh, one of the missing workers, Neeraj's brother, said that he had received no information for two days. In the FIR, the complainant sub-inspector claims that he started hearing cries for help from inside the burning building after the fire started.

New Delhi: With every passing minute now, hopes diminish of finding the three workers still feared to be trapped under the hot rubble where a shoe factory stood and was burnt down in a fire on Monday morning. Fire officials and the police have now said that due to the high temperatures inside the building and the debris, chances are they will only find mortal remains in the rubble. Even as there remains some confusion between the police and the fire department as to the exact number of people who were inside the Peeragarhi factory when the fire started, with the factory owner having fled, it is uncertain whether officials will be able to ascertain the toll from the fire. According to the police, the cooling process is still on in the godown. "Unfortunately, the temperature is so high that they might not retrieve bodies and they have not identified anything which can be called a body," the official said. An official from Delhi Fire Services (DFS) said they had found a half-burnt body from the second floor early on Tuesday morning and that they are still searching for three others. And while the Delhi Police maintained that no body had been recovered, DCP (Outer) Parvinder Singh said what appeared to be mortal remains recovered from the site was being examined for confirmation. He too added that chances of finding bodies intact beyond this time are very less. As per the official, Pankaj Garg, who is the owner of the godown, is absconding. "He fled soon after the fire incident. Garg might have known about the presence of trapped people but he left the spot," the police said. So far, the investigation has revealed that those who had escaped from the godown said that they had seen the fire start from the first floor. "Exact reason behind the cause of the fire will be ascertained only after the forensic team will enter the building and till now due to heat they have not gone inside," the official said. Atul Garg, Director, Delhi Fire Services (DFS) said during the rescue operation, one of their officers was also injured after a fall from the second floor. "His name is Rajesh Kumar Shukla and he is admitted to a hospital in Paschim Vihar," he said. Another fire official said that smoke was still coming out from the basement of the building on Tuesday. The Delhi Police have now added the names of the missing workers as victims in the FIR against the factory owner. "During the rescue operation, families have come to us informing us that their relatives were missing," the police said, adding that many of these families were now at police stations desperately waiting for news of their loved ones. Rajesh, one of the missing workers, Neerajs brother, said that he had received no information for two days. He had last spoken to his brother on Sunday night in a casual conversation. "He was married, had two children, one of whose first birthday was coming up on June 30," Rajesh said, adding that Neeraj had been working at the shoe-factory for two years at a pay of Rs 9,000 to Rs 10,000. In the FIR, the complainant sub-inspector claims that he started hearing cries for help from inside the burning building after the fire started. There was no fire exit and on stairs, goods were kept. There were iron nets on windows and the goods were covered with iron sheets, the FIR said.

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