By IANS,
Lucknow : A major fire broke out in a ‘gutka’ factory here Monday, destroying all the stock and raw material stored there, police said. Though the workers were rescued, one woman choked on the smoke and her condition is said to be serious.
The blaze at the factory in the Naka area was so powerful that 12 fire tenders had to fight for over three hours to douse the blaze.
Several factory workers were caught in the fire, but safely rescued by the firemen.
The affected woman was rushed to a nearby medical facility where her condition is stated to be serious, police said.
Fire officials said the fire began from the blowers installed at the third floor that are used to dry the betelnut ‘supari’.
A senior fire official told IANS the department would be seeking a reply from the factory owner Anil Kumar Yadav on the lack of fire safety measures in the factory premises.
In another incident in the state capital’s Wazirganj area, a major fire broke out in a fire cracker shop and the area echoed with several blasts. It took over an hour for the fire tenders to control the blaze.
A case has been slapped on the shop owner for illegally stockpiling fire crackers.