Fire officials said that while the major blaze is under control, some of the portions are still catching small fires which are being doused.
NAVI MUMBAI: Around 12 hours after a fire broke out in Khairane MIDC (Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation), one casualty has been reported, while another person is still missing, fire officials said on Saturday.
While the major blaze is under control, some of the portions are still catching small fires which are being doused. “In the areas wherein the fire is doused, we are conducting cooling procedure. After reaching the terrace of the West Coast Polychem Pvt Ltd on Saturday morning, we found the first body who was later identified as NS Nair. There were no burn injuries on him. He is suspected to have died of suffocation. One person is still missing and we are looking for him,” NMMC fire officer Purushottam Jadhav said.
Nikhil Sanjay Pashilkar (26), a resident of Kalyan is the second person who is still missing. Nair, who is above 60 years of age was also a resident of Kalyan.
The fire call was made at Rabale MIDC Fire station at around 3.17pm on Friday and the first company to catch fire was that of west Coast Polychem Pvt Ltd which later spread to Hind Elastomers. One of the eyewitnesses Amita Shah on Friday said that many female labourers who were sleeping on the terrace of the West Coast Company after their shift had managed to come down somehow during the fire incident safely. “While some seemed suffocated, some were vomiting. They were too traumatised and taken to hospitals,” Shah said.
“The biggest problem in MIDC area is of lack of safety. Even the marginal spaces available between the two companies is used for dumping drums and it becomes a challenge for us to work and douse the fire,” fire officer RB Patil from MIDC said.