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9 February 2024
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Massive fire breaks out at cosmetic factory in Himachal Pradesh, India; workers rescued; seven deceased
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A fierce fire at a cosmetic factory in the Baddi industrial area of Himachal Pradesh's Solan district in India on Friday afternoon, 2 February 2024, trapped workers, prompting swift emergency response and rescue operations as firefighters battled thick smoke to ensure the safety of those affected. Eyewitnesses reported that workers had climbed on top of the building for safety, "People jumped from the first and the second floor of the building to save their lives and sustained multiple injuries on hands, legs and even spine.” Firefighters from Nalagarh and nearby areas were actively working to control the fire and the National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF) engaged in rescue operations at the scene in Jhadmazri. The firefighting efforts were challenged by thick smoke emanating from the cosmetic materials.
Debris of parts of the factory that collapsed during the fire had to be removed to find the missing workers, officials said, adding that personnel of several agencies, including the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and the police were engaged in the search operation and removal of large quantities of chemicals.
Emergency responders quickly transported the injured to various hospitals for treatment. Among them, five with critical burn injuries were taken to PGI Chandigarh, six to ESI Katha and two to Baddi Hospital, while 19 are receiving treatment at the Brooklyn Hospital.
Two more bodies were recovered on Sunday, 11 February 2024 while a search was underway for three missing workers, according to officials. With the recoveries, the death toll in the incident has risen to seven. Both the bodies that were recovered on 11 February 2024, were recovered from the second floor of the factory and sent to the Nalagarh Civil Hospital for postmortem, they said. Officials said that though they have the names of those who were missing and whose bodies were recovered on Sunday, identity would be ascertained through DNA matching. For the process, samples of family members will be used, they said. Police said that there were 85 people in the factory at the time of the incident on Friday. Of them, seven lost their lives, 29 were injured and 47 were rescued.
The five missing people’s families were camping outside the factory as the police prevented them from entering the premises as the building had been declared unsafe. The workers raised slogans against the police and factory management and barricades were put up to prevent them from entering the factory.
Two people, Chander Shekhar, the factory head of NR Aromas Company and Vinod Bilwa have been arrested in connection with the fire. They were arrested after an FIR was registered under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 285 (negligence), 336 (endangering life), 337 (causing hurt) and 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), according to police. The police dispatched a team to Ratlam in Madhya Pradesh in search of the factory’s owner.
During his visit to the factory on 7 February 2024, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu had said that negligence and violations of norms would be probed and industrial laws would be amended suitably to prevent recurrence of such accidents.
Industry Minister Harshvardhan Chauhan had constituted a joint task force of various departments to carry out a safety audit of all factories in the Baddi, Barotiwala and Nalagarh (BBN) industrial belt following the incident. There were violations of norms related to fire and labour safety and the incident occurred due to criminal negligence of the company, he had said.
Sources: The Tribune India, The Hindustan Times
Debris of parts of the factory that collapsed during the fire had to be removed to find the missing workers, officials said, adding that personnel of several agencies, including the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and the police were engaged in the search operation and removal of large quantities of chemicals.
Emergency responders quickly transported the injured to various hospitals for treatment. Among them, five with critical burn injuries were taken to PGI Chandigarh, six to ESI Katha and two to Baddi Hospital, while 19 are receiving treatment at the Brooklyn Hospital.
Two more bodies were recovered on Sunday, 11 February 2024 while a search was underway for three missing workers, according to officials. With the recoveries, the death toll in the incident has risen to seven. Both the bodies that were recovered on 11 February 2024, were recovered from the second floor of the factory and sent to the Nalagarh Civil Hospital for postmortem, they said. Officials said that though they have the names of those who were missing and whose bodies were recovered on Sunday, identity would be ascertained through DNA matching. For the process, samples of family members will be used, they said. Police said that there were 85 people in the factory at the time of the incident on Friday. Of them, seven lost their lives, 29 were injured and 47 were rescued.
The five missing people’s families were camping outside the factory as the police prevented them from entering the premises as the building had been declared unsafe. The workers raised slogans against the police and factory management and barricades were put up to prevent them from entering the factory.
Two people, Chander Shekhar, the factory head of NR Aromas Company and Vinod Bilwa have been arrested in connection with the fire. They were arrested after an FIR was registered under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 285 (negligence), 336 (endangering life), 337 (causing hurt) and 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), according to police. The police dispatched a team to Ratlam in Madhya Pradesh in search of the factory’s owner.
During his visit to the factory on 7 February 2024, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu had said that negligence and violations of norms would be probed and industrial laws would be amended suitably to prevent recurrence of such accidents.
Industry Minister Harshvardhan Chauhan had constituted a joint task force of various departments to carry out a safety audit of all factories in the Baddi, Barotiwala and Nalagarh (BBN) industrial belt following the incident. There were violations of norms related to fire and labour safety and the incident occurred due to criminal negligence of the company, he had said.
Sources: The Tribune India, The Hindustan Times
