Excelsior Correspondent
KATHUA, Apr 28: Two labourers were killed and another injured in the fire that engulfed a portion of Zinc and Copper Factory at Industrial Estate Hatli Morh here, today.
The cause of fire was stated to be an explosion in the factory which occurred at around 12.45 pm. Soon after the explosion a portion of the factory was engulfed by devastating fire.
Two fire tenders from the Kathua town were pressed into service to douse the blaze. After hard efforts of one and a half hour the fire tenders succeeded in controlling the fire from spreading to other portion of the factory. The loss is stated worth lakhs of rupees.
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Soon after the incident, SSP Kathua, Ramesh Chander Kotwal along with other police officers rushed to the spot. He told reporters that the fire broke out due to a sudden blast in the factory the cause of which is being investigated. He said two persons were charred to death in the devastating fire while one has been seriously injured with multiple burn injuries. He has been admitted in Burn Ward of GMC Kathua and his condition is also stated to be critical.
SSP Kotwal said that police will investigate the matter whether the cause of fire was accidental or it was a mischief. In addition to police the cause of the fire is also being investigated by a team of Fire and Emergency Services.
Charred bodies of two persons were recovered from the debris of the factory which went up in flames following the blast, he said.
Officials identified the deceased as Shakeel Ahmad (35) and Salman (22), both residents of Bijnor in Uttar Pradesh, and the injured as their associate Alam (19) of Muzaffarnagar.
They said a boiler is believed to have exploded, causing the fire and the casualties.
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