A 22-year-old man was critically injured in a fire that took place at Colours Udyog, a Tyre Pyrolysis (Tyre recycling) unit in Phase 2 Industrial Area, Panchkula. The victim has been identified as Ramesh, a resident of Raipur Kalan village.

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He received over 90 per cent burn injuries and was rushed to the Government Hospital, Sector 6, in a fire department vehicle. He was later shifted to PGI after being administered first aid.

The incident took place at around 2 pm on Monday, when Ramesh was working alone in the factory. A vessel (boiler) used in the pyrolysis process caught fire due to friction from the wires inside the tyre.

An explosion was caused due to the high pressure which led to Ramesh receiving serious burn injuries as he was standing quite close to the vessel.

Another worker received minor injuries in the fire as the waste tyres caught fire inside the factory, leading to the whole unit becoming surrounded by toxic smoke.

According to Arun, an employee working in the unit, the victim and three others employees had gone out for lunch but Ramesh returned early. He was working alone when the incident took place.

Fire tenders from the Sector 5 fire station were rushed to the spot to control the fire. Another explosion took place in the factory, while led to the glass windows of an adjoining unit being shattered.

The workers, along with the owner’s brother Virender Jindal, apparently did not take the victim to the hospital and he was kept in the factory itself for a long time before the fire department vehicle reached the spot and took Ramesh to the Hospital.

An eyewitness also alleged that the police were slow to react and reached the spot after a long delay. They said that they had tried calling up the police helpline number several times before anyone responded to their call.

Speaking to Newsline, Ashwini Jindal, owner of the company, denied the allegation of delay, saying that the victim was being administered first aid by the workers and there was no delay in taking him to the hospital. He claimed that he could not reach the accident site at the time of accident as he was out of town.

Meanwhile, ASI Baldev Singh said that they were yet to record the statement of the victim and a case would be registered according to the victim’s statement.

Indian Express News