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Fire in Kerala claims 11 lives

Eleven people, including three women, were killed and 14 injured, six of them seriously, when a fire broke out in a factory manufacturing empty cartridges for the defence services, at Kanjikode in Kerala this afternoon.

While five people died on the spot, four died while being taken to hospital and two others at the Thrissur Medical College hospital. The fire disfigured the bodies and only six have been identified so far.

The police ruled out any sabotage behind the incident and said the cause of the fire was under investigation. However, it is suspected that an electrical short-circuit could have caused the mishap.

The private factory, Mass Combustible Pucks, was engaged in the manufacture of cartridges for the defence services, especially for the ordnance factory at Jabalpur. Highly-inflammable chemicals needed for the process, were stored in huge quantities in the factory.

The doors, window panes, and a portion of the roof were destroyed in the fire that broke out at 1215 hours IST. It took nearly an hour for the fire tenders to put out the fire.

At the time of the mishap, there were 25 employees, including 15 candidates who had come for an interview, and a few workers engaged in construction works. Thick fumes from the chemicals prevented them from rushing out for safety.

Top police officials rushed to the spot and supervised the relief and rescue operations.

The seriously injured were being treated at the Thrissur Medical College hospital.

In Thiruvananthapuram, Chief Minister E K Nayanar directed the Palakkad district collector S G S Kishore to inquire into the incident.

UNI

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