Owner, worker die in massive chemical factory fire in Haridwar

Haridwar: A chemical factory owner and a worker have been charred to death when the production unit in the Bahadarabad area of this district went up in flames that could be seen from kilometres away, a police official said on Monday.

Another worker of the Ganpati Chemical Factory was grievously injured in the blaze that occurred around 9 pm on Sunday and caused panic in the area. The police official said firefighters brought the blaze under control on Monday morning after a 12-hour struggle.

While several fire tenders were rushed to the spot immediately after the blaze, the locals came out with water in buckets and tankers to douse the flames. But with the presence of chemicals, the fire spread much faster and their efforts came to nought.

Haridwar Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Pramendra Singh Doval said the fire, which started from chemical-filled tankers parked on the premises, soon engulfed the entire factory.

Factory owner Mahesh Agarwal and a worker Sanjay Kumar died in the fire, the SSP said, adding that another staffer, Jogendra Saini, has been hospitalised with critical burn injuries.

SSP Doval said a forensic team reached the spot and collected evidence while the bodies have been sent for DNA sample collection.

The officer said a probe into the incident will look into whether or not fire safety norms were followed in the factory.