A 3-storey building, a plastic factory, collapsed after a fire broke out in Delhi's Narela area.
A 27-year-old labourer was killed and five others, including three firefighters, were injured after a factory building collapsed due to fire in outer Delhi's Narela area on Thursday.
The fire in the three-storey building, a plastic factory, was reported on Wednesday evening and 35 fire tenders were rushed to put out the blaze. The fire led to the collapse of the building leaving Sanjan Kumar dead, they said.
Three firefighters -- assistant divisional officer AK Jaiswal, sub-officer Tejpal and fireman Anup Kumar, along with two others who were injured during the rescue operations are in hospital, fire officials said.
Fire department officials were carrying out cooling and rescue operations till late evening on Thursday, to rescue three more people trapped under the debris.
"Three people-- two firemen and a labourer-- are still feared trapped under the debris," said Atul Garg, chief fire officer, Delhi Fire Service.
He said the firemen were facing difficulty to carry out the rescue operation since the front portion of the building was still intact while its rear part has collapsed.
"We cannot raze down the front portion as the adjoining structures will get affected. Even though we have an excavator at work we are still forced to continue the excavation manually," Mr Garg added.
According to fire department officials, the fire started on the ground floor of the factory and spread to the upper floors of the warehouse where plastic glasses were made.
"Thirty-five fire tenders have been pressed into service and an NDRF team is also assisting in the rescue operation. We have also asked PWD engineering department to pitch in," he said.
When asked about the people still feared to be trapped in the rubble, he said, "There are heavy beams which cannot be removed manually. We are trying to figure out a way to rescue them."
Delhi PWD Minister Satyendar Jain visited the site of the incident and took stock of the situation.