By Faisal Fareed, TwoCircles.net,
Lucknow: In a tragic incident six persons including four minor boys, died in a fire mishap at a school bag factory in the congested Rassi Batawan locality of Lucknow on Sunday. The incident occurred at 1:30 am while everyone was sleeping in the house which was also used as factory.
As per police reports, Goodluck Bags, a school bag manufacturing unit was running illegally in the congested bylanes of Rassi Batawan locality under Naka Hindola police station. The factory was owned by one Sabir and his cousin Farooque. Several workers were involved there for stitching school bags. The three-storeyed factory cum house was also used for residential purpose by the workers.
During the intervening night of Saturday/Sunday, Sitapur resident Zaheerudin (18), Sirajuddin (17), Naemuddin (15), Saheb Alam (16) and Afaq (12) and his brothers Ishrat, Sadab and Aquil were working in the factory. Owners Sabir and Farooque were also assisting them. Later, all of them slept after winding up their work at 1 am in the night. It is suspected that due to a lighted cigarette, room at the third floor was filled with smokes and one of the workers came to know this when they felt suffocation. The fire engulfed the whole premises in no time as the heaps of bags kept there caught fire. All those sleeping in the room suffered burns and they screamed for help. Before the locals could react to the distress call, the victims fell unconscious due to smoke. When Sabir heard his employees crying for help, he rushed upstairs to save the victims.
In the meanwhile, locals gained an access to the house by climbing the roof of one Ajit Kumar Srivastava. They broke open the doors in an attempt to save the victims. Later some locals informed the police control room and huge police force led by SHO Naka Sarang Dhar Dwivedi rushed the scene. It took time for the police teams to reach the scene as the lane connecting the workshop is very narrow and police jeep could not pass via the lane.
The police team reached the scene around 2 am. “I saw the house was on fire. Fire flames were emanating from the ventilators of the top floor room. We also heard victim crying inside. The police team gained an access to the room at the top floor by scaling the boundary wall from the roof of a neighbour. We broke opened the windows in the room and a brick wall constructed closing one of the windows,” the SHO told.
He told with the help of locals the victims were pulled out from the room. “Since ambulance vans could enter the narrow lanes, we had to call the hand cart pullers. The victims were taken out at the handcarts and were taken to the main road where a waiting ambulance rushed then to Balrampur hospital,” the SHO told. He told the victims died later due to burns and suffocation.
Those died were identified as Jaheerudin (18), Sirajuddin (17), Naemuddin (15), Saheb Alam (16) and Afaq (12). The victim who suffered burns were identified as Ishrat and his brothers Sadab and Aquil.
In the meanwhile, fire-fighting officials also reached the scene. The lane being too narrow the fire officials first laid the water pipes to reach the house and then doused the fire which was still very intense. The police detained Sabir and are interrogating him. A case has been registered in this connection.