With two more deaths, the death toll in the blaze in a firecracker factory in Saharanpur reached five, police said on Sunday.
Fire had suddenly broken out in the firecracker factory located in Sorana village in Sarsawa area of Saharanpur on Saturday.
Senior Superintendent of Police Akash Tomar said that three persons, including Rahul, the factory licence holder, perished in the blaze on Saturday while two more died during treatment. He said the condition of one more person was stated to be serious and he was rushed to the PGI in Chandigarh.
The fire spread fast because of the inflammable material and led to an explosion which made the situation more chaotic. By the time fire tenders and police reached the spot, some of the workers had suffered serious injuries and they were rushed to the district hospital and medical college hospital, the SSP said.
The raging flames were so intense that some two-wheelers and cars parked near the factory also caught fire and were reduced to ashes, the SSP added.
Meanwhile in Bahraich, an 8-year-old boy was dragged underwater by a crocodile while bathing in a pond on Saturday.
The remains of the body were located by divers early Sunday.
“Virendra of Gud village under Motipur police station was attacked by a crocodile when he went to the pond with his sister,” Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Akashdeep Badhawan said.
Upon being attacked by the crocodile, the boy’s sister rushed to home and told the incident to her family and they alerted the authorities. Soon, the Forest department launched a search operation.
“The remains of the deceased have been recovered and sent for post-mortem,” the divisional forest officer said.
