2 labourers perish in Chamba plastic factory fire

Nurpur, December 24

A massive fire suddenly broke out last night at a plastic waste processing unit in the industrial area at Hatli near Sihunta in Bhatiyat sub-division of Chamba district. Two out of the five labourers sleeping on the first floor of the factory building were burnt alive, whereas the other three saved themselves by escaping from the building.

The whole building, raw material and the finished goods lying in the factory and its godown were gutted. Surinder Awasthi, owner of the processing unit, said he had set up the unit three years ago and around 100 tonnes of raw material and finished goods lying in the factory and its warehouse were reduced to ashes.

He said one of the labourers called him up at around 10.30 pm and told him that the fire had broken out. He immediately rushed to the spot, but within no time everything was reduced to ashes. The deceased labourers have been identified as Vivekanand Mehato (40) from Bihar and Suraj Kumar (35) from Nepal. Vivekanand was a factory worker whereas Suraj was a labourer. Meanwhile, Rs 10,000 was disbursed as immediate relief to the kin of the deceased. An electric short circuit is suspected to be the cause of fire.

Sunil Kainth, SDM, Chuwari said that six fire tenders from Shahpur, Kangra and Dharamsala were pressed into service and the flames were controlled late this evening. “Since plastic material was lying in the factory it took a long time to extinguish the fire. Heavy machinery such as Poclain and JCB were pressed into service to remove the debris from the mishap site. The police have taken possession of the charred body remains of the deceased and further forensic investigations are underway,” he said.