A horrific accident took place on Sunday night in Premnagar area of Chamanganj police station area of Kanpur, when a fire broke out in a shoe factory located on the ground floor of a six-storey building. The fire, which started around 9:30 pm, was so fierce that it spread to the upper floors of the building. Seeing the high flames and smoke rising from the fire, there was chaos in the area. About 35 fire engines were engaged in trying to extinguish the fire throughout the night and it could be controlled by Monday morning.
Shoe businessman Danish, his wife Nazneen and their three daughters died in this tragic accident. While extinguishing the fire, the fire brigade personnel took out the burnt bodies of all of them from the building at around three in the night. In the preliminary investigation, the cause of the fire is being told to be a short circuit. According to the information, this was the six-storey building of Danish, a resident of Premnagar, in which he lived with his brother Kashif. Danish’s military shoe factory was located on the ground floor of the building and the warehouse above it, while shoes were stored on other floors.
The factory was closed on Sunday, but suddenly a fire broke out at night. Seeing the fire spreading, many people managed to get out of the building, but Danish and his family remained trapped inside. As soon as the incident was reported, Chief Fire Officer Deepak Sharma reached the spot with his team. Relief and rescue work was started by sealing a radius of about 200 meters. As a precaution, the surrounding buildings were also evacuated. ADM Rajesh Singh and police force of more than a dozen police stations were deployed on the spot, as well as the SDRF team was also called.
The magnitude of the fire can be gauged from the fact that cracks even appeared in the building. The smoke emitted due to the leather shoes and chemicals burning inside was very poisonous, making it difficult to breathe. This smoke spread in the air also engulfed the surrounding houses. People told that their fans and coolers sucked the smoke and filled the houses inside, due to which the health of many elderly and sick people deteriorated. Many people had vomiting and difficulty in breathing.
To save their lives, people tied wet cloth on their mouths. Firefighters broke the walls on both sides of the building with hammers so that the smoke could come out and they could enter inside. Electricity supply was completely cut off. The work of extinguishing the fire was completed by Monday morning.
There is a wave of mourning in Kanpur city after this accident. DCP Central Dinesh Tripathi said that the cause of the fire is being said to be a short circuit and despite many efforts, Danish and his family could not be saved. The administration and police are investigating the matter.