For worker who lived in rented room right behind Alipur factory, a narrow escape from blaze
Out of the four injured, two were admitted to Lok Nayak Hospital with inhalation injuries. According to doctors at the hospital, a mother-daughter duo is in a stable condition.
3 min read
Govinda (18) took the day off on the day the factory caught fire. (Express Photo by Amit Mehra)A sudden bout of illness, quick-thinking relatives, and a distance of a few feet — those who survived Thursday’s blaze at a paint factory in Outer Delhi’s Alipur were able to cheat certain death in more ways than one.
Govinda (18) took the day off on the day the factory caught fire, coming back from work in the afternoon feeling sick all of a sudden after filling paint into containers all day. “I went to the medical store, took some medicine after eating food and fell asleep,” the factory worker said. He was awoken a few hours later by flames licking at the foot of his mattress and his rented room — right behind the paint factory — engulfed in smoke.
So close was his house to the factory that his room’s window overlooked the building he worked in. When the factory caught fire, the flames also made their way towards him. “I ran away with the others to save my life,” said Govinda.
A few feet away, Urmila (45) had also laid down for a nap in the afternoon when she was woken up by screams coming from the street. “I thought a gas cylinder had exploded… but later found out that it was the paint factory,” she said.
She recalled picking up her children and running away from the site. “I saw the fire travelling through the open drains and the entire street looked like it was on fire,” she said. Her nephew’s barber shop next door to the factory and her brother-in-law’s kirana shop next to it were burnt to ashes.
“We don’t have much savings to buy houses elsewhere. These businessmen buy cheap plots here to set up their factories and we can’t even tell them to not do that,” Urmila said bitterly.
Out of the four injured, two were admitted to Lok Nayak Hospital with inhalation injuries. According to doctors at the hospital, a mother-daughter duo is in a stable condition.
Divya (20) and her mother Jyoti (42) were at home just a few feet from the factory when the incident happened and due to excessive smoke, fell unconscious. According to Divya’s uncle Suresh Kumar, her father Sunil was not around when the incident happened.
“There is just a 10-foot road between the factory and the house… They were lying unconscious and were found by my sons who took them to hospital,” said Suresh, adding that his wife Urmila too went with his sons.
Urmila said she was busy with her daily chores when she heard that a fire had erupted in front of the house. “My sons and I ran towards their house which was engulfed in smoke. We broke the door and windows and my son wrapped a bedsheet and took the mother and daughter outside,” Urmila said.
She added that due to excessive smoke, they were not able to locate Divya for almost an hour while Jyoti was lying unconscious near the stairs and were unidentifiable as they were covered in black soot.
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