2 charred to death in fire at paper box manufacturing unit

Two labourers were charred to death when a fire broke out at a printing press-cum-paper box manufacturing unit in Pune on Wednesday.

Fire brigade officials received a call about the blaze at Himalaya Estate Building in the city's Shivajinagar area around 3 am.

"Upon reaching the spot, it was found that the fire had broken out inside a printing press-cum-paper box manufacturing unit in the building," a fire brigade official said.

"Since the unit was closed, we broke open its shutters," he said.

The bodies of two labourers, who were sleeping inside the unit, were later recovered from the site, the police said.

A lot of paper materials were lying in the premises because of which the blaze spread rapidly, the fire brigade official said.

Seven fire tenders were pressed into action to douse the flames, he said, adding that the cooling work was still on.

A short-circuit possibly led to the blaze, but the exact cause was yet to be ascertained, he said.

An investigation was on into the incident.