Fire inside electronic factory kills 6 near Indian capital

At least six people were killed and several others suffered burn injuries in a devastating fire Wednesday inside an electronic factory near Indian capital city of New Delhi, police said.

The fire broke out inside a LED bulb manufacturing factory in Noida in the outskirts of Delhi in the late afternoon.

"Six employees including a woman of a factory were burnt to death today after a four-storey building in Noida's Sector 11 caught fire," a police official said. "Some of the bodies recovered were charred beyond recognition."

An employee who jumped down from fifth floor sustained severe spinal injuries and was immediately removed to hospital in critical condition.

Eyewitnesses told Xinhua that flames and smoke were billowing from the building. It took several hours for the firefighters to contain fire from spreading and douse the flames, officials said.

Although police said firefighters were immediately rushed to the spot, the eyewitnesses alleged delay in firefighting resulted in deaths. Reports said traffic jam on the roads caused the delay and prevented fire tenders to reach the spot in time.

The cause of fire is said to be a short circuit on the third floor and the chemicals inside the factory aggravated the situation.

Police suspected there might be other bodies in the basement of the building.

"The bodies have been sent for postmortem," said the police official, "We are searching for more bodies in the burnt building."

Chances of fire in Indian factories are often high as owners usually ignore safety standards vis-a-vis fire and store fuel and combustible materials in a haphazard manner. Endit