Four workers were charred to death and 12 others received serious burn injuries when a fire broke out in a textile company at Dombivali on Thursday morning. Binayak Textiles in the industrial township of Dombivali processes cloth and employs 200 workers. At the time of the incident, there were 67 workers working in the night shift.
At 3 am, the fire erupted on the first floor as the pipes carrying fuel oil to the boilers leaked and caught fire. In no time, flames engulfed the entire building. The workers on the first floor were trapped due the stocking of sacks and drums on the staircase that had also caught fire. All the four workers on the first floor were charred to death. There were 12 workers on the second floor, who were also trapped, as the staircase was in flames. Even before the emergency services could respond, the local villagers rescued the trapped workers on the second floor by breaking the AC duct. The injured workers were rushed to Shivam Hospital. Six injured workers who are in a critical condition have been moved to the ICU. The police that arrived could do little, as they arrived without torches and could not find their way the dark.
According to Mukesh Patil, sarpanch of the area, the police was followed by the fire tenders, which did not have any water in them. A private water supplier was requested to provide water to the fire tenders, which was then used to start putting out the fire.