2 hours on, Naraina factory blaze continues, 29 fire engines at spot

A fire broke out in a factor in Delhi’s Naraina area on Thursday. According to latest reports, even after two hours, the rescuers have not been able to douse the fire. According to ANI, 29 fire tenders are at the spot. News Nation has learnt that the factory used to make greeting cards. The information about the blaze was received by the authorities at around 7:30 am. The incident comes just days after the Karol Bagh hotel fire in which 17 people had died. The hotel's general manager, Rajender, and manager, Vikas, have been arrested for culpable homicide, DCP (central) Mandeep Singh Randhawa said. According to reports, the hotel owner - Shardendu Goel - is absconding after the incident. The DCP also said that the case has been transferred to the Crime Branch.

 

#WATCH A medium category fire broke out at a paper card factory in Naraina Industrial Area, Phase I, early morning today; Total 23 fire tenders engaged in fire fighting operations, no casualties reported pic.twitter.com/l6wiOjfELO

— ANI (@ANI) February 14, 2019

Earlier, the city police registered a case under IPC Section 304 (Punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder) in connection with the fire that broke out in Hotel Arpit Palace in Karol Bagh. According to reports, the city police has also added Section 308 of IPC (attempt to commit culpable homicide).

Meanwhile, taking a lesson for the Hotel Arpit Palace blaze, the Delhi Fire Service began a fire-audit at about 380 hotels across the central Delhi area, a senior fire officer said. The Delhi Government on Tuesday directed the fire department to inspect buildings which are five floors or more and submit a report on their safety compliance within a week. "Based on the directives of the state government, we have formed six teams to carry out inspections in hotels and guest houses across Karol Bagh area. We have already begun the inspection," Atul Kumar Garg, Chief Fire Officer said.

All hotels will be strictly checked for their safety norms. If fire-fighting equipment not in place, severe action will be taken against the hotel management, he said.  Action will be taken against the hotels depending on the extent of violations. If minor lapses are found, they will be warned and asked to rectify it within a couple of days. If not rectified, action will be taken accordingly, the fire official added. 

(With agency inputs)