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Seven people were burnt alive and two were critically injured in an illegal firecracker-manufacturing factory in the Bhiwadi town of Rajasthan's Khairthal-Tijara district on Monday, officials said. The incident occurred in the Khushkhera-Karoli industrial area in Bhiwadi. Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma announced Rs 3 lakh financial aid for each of the family of the seven deceased. In a post on X, he said, "In this hour of grief, the state government stands in complete solidarity with the bereaved families. Instructions have been issued to provide financial assistance of Rs 3 lakh from the Chief Minister's Relief Fund to the dependents of the deceased." "Seven persons have died in the incident. It was a garment factory but firecrackers were being manufactured inside it illegally," Sumitra Pareek, Additional District Magistrate, said. She said that two people trapped in the factory were rescued. They were admitted to Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital in a critical condition. Earlier, ...
Seven workers were burnt alive when a fire broke out in a chemical factory in Rajasthan's Bhiwadi town on Monday, officials said. Two workers remain trapped inside the unit. The fire broke out in Bhiwadi's Khushkhera-Karoli industrial area. Additional District Magistrate Sumita Mishra said police came to know about the incident during a routine patrol following which a rescue operation was launched immediately. "Nine people were trapped inside. Seven bodies have been taken out so far," she said, adding that frenetic efforts were underway to rescue the remaining two workers.
A spate of fire incidents in Pakistan's largest city of Karachi, following last month's deadly Gul Plaza shopping mall blaze, has raised alarm among authorities, who are also examining the possibility of foul play, officials said on Saturday. At least five fire outbreaks were reported from different parts of the city on Friday, while an explosion damaged a pipeline of a main water pumping station in Dhabeji, disrupting water supply to millions of residents. Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Zubair Nazir Sheikh said law enforcement agencies and fire service officials were closely monitoring the situation and probing the causes of the fires, including the possibility of foul play. The renewed concern follows the January 17 inferno at the Gul Plaza shopping mall in the Saddar commercial area, which completely gutted the building and claimed at least 79 lives. It took two days to bring the blaze under control, while a week-long rescue operation led to the recovery of dozens of bodie
At least eight people were killed and several others went missing after a fire erupted in two adjoining warehouses in West Bengal's South 24 Parganas district on Monday, police said. The blaze in the twin units in the Najirabad area within Narendrapur police station limits, on the outskirts of Kolkata, was brought under control after a seven-hour firefight. However, pockets of fire in certain parts still raged, a senior police officer said. While three badly charred bodies were recovered around 5 pm during a search operation in the adjacent godowns, five more bodies were discovered later, the officer said. Baruipur police district SP Shubhendu Kumar said the identity of the eight deceased could not be ascertained as the bodies were charred beyond recognition. "Whether more people were trapped and killed in the blaze will be known only after the debris is completely cleared and the pockets of fire are completely put out by the fire brigade", he said. Initially, six people were repo
A gas explosion sent fire racing through the top floors of a high-rise apartment building in New York City early Saturday, killing one person and injuring 14 others as temperatures plunged into the single digits overnight, authorities said. Firefighters responded shortly before 12:30 am to the 17-story building in the Bronx, where people were seen leaning out of windows calling for help as flames engulfed parts of the top floors, officials said. Chief of Department John Esposito said firefighters were investigating reports of a gas odour on the 15th and 16th floors when the explosion occurred. He said there was major structural damage to about a dozen apartments and fires in 10 apartments on the 16th and 17th floors. Authorities did not immediately release information on the person who died. Another person was critically injured, five had serious injuries and eight had minor injuries, officials said. Officials said the building had been undergoing renovations, and work on the natur
A fire on Friday in one of Seoul's last-remaining shanty towns burned makeshift houses and forced dozens of residents to flee, but no casualties were immediately reported. Much of the fire was under control about 6 1/2 hours after the blaze broke out in Guryong village in southern Seoul, fire officials said. Local fire officer Jeong Gwang-hun told a televised briefing that rescuers were searching each house in the burned area to look for possible victims. More than 1,200 personnel including firefighters and police officers were deployed to the scene, he said, adding the cause of the fire was under investigation. The hillside village has occasionally had fires over the years, a vulnerability that observers say is linked to its tightly packed homes built with materials that easily burn. The village is located near some of Seoul's most expensive neighbourhoods, with towering high-rise apartments and lavish shopping districts, and has long been a symbol of South Korea's stark income .
Ajay Gupta, one of the four co-owners of 'Birch by Romeo Lane' nightclub in Goa, where 25 persons were killed in a fire earlier this month, on Thursday filed a bail application in a court in Mapusa town. Gupta was arrested in New Delhi by the Goa Police on December 10, following which a court in Mapusa remanded him in police custody for seven days. Twenty-five persons, including 20 staff members and five tourists, were killed in the major blaze at the nightclub at Arpora in North Goa around midnight of December 6. Gupta, who is currently in the custody of the Anjuna police, applied for bail before the District Judge in Mapusa. Senior lawyer Rohan Desai will represent him. The court is likely to hear the bail application later in the day, and notices will be issued to the state police seeking their response. So far, eight persons have been arrested in connection with the case, including Gupta, and two other owners - Gaurav Luthra and his brother Saurabh - who were deported from ...
The Goa bench of Bombay High Court on Monday converted a civil suit against Birch by Romeo Lane at Arpora, where a devastating fire on December 6 killed 25 persons, into a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) observing "someone has to be held accountable in such kind of cases". The HC also asked the state government to file a reply on permissions granted to the ill-fated nightclub. The petition was filed by Pradeep Ghadi Amonkar and Sunil Divkar, owners of the land on which the nightclub stood. Converting it into a PIL, the division bench of Justices Sarang Kotwal and Prithviraj Chavan said "someone has to be held accountable in such kind of cases". It observed that the local panchayat had failed to take suo motu cognisance of the club and had taken no action despite complaints. Commercial operations were going in the structure despite it being served a demolition order, the HC bench pointed out. Advocate Rohit Bras de Sa, the lawyer representing Amonkar and Divkar, was made amicus .
A massive fire that broke out at a commercial complex in Guwahati remained untamed for over 33 hours even as more than two dozen fire tenders have been struggling to douse the blaze, a senior official said on Thursday. The fire broke out at Swagata Square Complex in ABC Point around 12.30 am on Wednesday. The multi-storey building houses SBI's zonal office, commercial branch and the premium banking branch, and a shopping mall, 'Sohum Emporia'. More than 25 fire tenders have been struggling for more than 33 hours. Water tenders from the Indian Air Force, Indian Army and Guwahati Refinery also joined the efforts to douse the blaze, while NDRF was called in to assist with their high-tech smoke reduction machine. Apart from Guwahati, fire tenders came from Morigaon, Kamrup and Nalbari districts, as well, while more vehicles were on the way from Darrang. "The fire is still raging on the sixth floor. We are trying to douse it," a senior official of the Fire & Emergency Services ...
In the wake of a nightclub fire that claimed 25 lives, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant held a high-level meeting on Wednesday with officials and tourism stakeholders to ensure strict safety measures ahead of the Christmas and New Year celebrations. Officials of the North and South Goa district administrations and police department were present in the meeting, which was also attended by state Tourism Minister Rohan Khaunte. The meeting was held against the backdrop of the December 6 fire tragedy at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora in North Goa in which 25 persons were killed, according to sources. "The chief minister briefed (those present in the meeting) about various measures taken to ensure that such a tragedy does not occur again in the state," a senior officer, privy to the meeting, told PTI. He said that the state government has issued various orders and also formed committees, including a high-level magisterial inquiry panel and a fire safety audit committee, after th
The Goa Police has approached the CBI for issuance of an Interpol Blue Notice against Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra, the main accused and owners of the Goa nightclub where a massive blaze claimed 25 lives, after they fled the country, officials said Tuesday. Saurabh Luthra and Gaurav Luthra, the owners of the Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub in Arpora where the incident happened on Saturday, are believed to have fled to Phuket, Thailand, hours after the tragedy, the Goa Police said on Monday. The Interpol Blue Notice is issued to collect additional information about a person's identity, location or activities in relation to a criminal investigation. The agency is in touch with the Interpol regarding the request of the Goa Police to track the fugitives. The Red Notice which calls for detention of the fugitive can only be issued after a charge sheet is filed and a Non Bailable Warrant is issued against the wanted person. "Goa Police have taken further steps to coordinate with the Interpol
Donations for victims of a Hong Kong fire that killed at least 146 people and left thousands homeless reached 900 million Hong Kong dollars (USD 115 million), authorities said on Monday, in a massive outpouring of sympathy and support. But as questions grew over who to blame for the deadly blaze, the government appeared to be moving swiftly to stifle criticism. A steady stream of people placed flowers, cards and other tributes at a makeshift memorial near the burned-out block of buildings, after long lines of mourners during the weekend. When something happens, we come out to help each other, said Loretta Loh, after paying her regards at the site. I have a heavy heart. The fire broke out on Wednesday afternoon at the Wang Fuk Court complex in the suburb of Tai Po. It burned through seven of eight apartment towers, home to some 4,600 people, and wasn't fully extinguished until Friday morning. Hong Kong police Disaster Victim Identification Unit staff went through four of the buildi
Three people died and two women were injured after a massive fire broke out at a footwear shop in south Delhi's Tigri Extension on Saturday evening, police said. A PCR call about the blaze at the shop on the ground floor of a four-storey building was received at 6.24 following which police rushed to the spot, they said. On arrival, police found the entire building engulfed in flames, with the fire believed to have started from the footwear shop on the ground floor before spreading upward, a senior police officer said. Three people were found dead at the spot, while two injured women were rescued from the building and shifted to a hospital, the officer said, adding that their condition is being monitored. Crime and forensic teams have been called to inspect the site, and evidence is being collected to ascertain the cause of the fire, police said. Further investigation is underway.