One dead, three injured in fire in tape manufacturing factory in Belagavi

Fire and emergency personnel rushed to Navage Industrial Area on the outskirts of Belagavi after some workers complained of a fire at Sneha Industries, which manufactures tape.

One person died and three workers were injured while one is missing in a fire accident in a private factory at Navage in Belagavi district of Karnataka at night on August 6.

Fire and emergency personnel rushed to Navage Industrial Area on the outskirts of Belagavi after some workers complained of a fire at Sneha Industries, which manufactures tape.

The fire is suspected to have originated in a short circuit in the elevator shaft. It spread in the factory and consumed all inflammable material, a police officer said.

Around 20 workers were in the factory at the time of the accident. Most rushed out. But some were trapped and suffered burns. The injured have been shifted to the district civil hospital, the officer said.

The accident occurred on Tuesday night, when a suspected short circuit led to a spark in the elevator shaft, police said.

A team of state disaster relief force recovered charred remains of Yallappa Gundyagol 18, who was caught in the elevator. Three others- Maruti Narayan Karavekar (32) of Kavalwadi , Yallappa Prakash Salagude, 35 of June Belgaum, and Ranjit Dashrath Patil , 39 of Rajawadi were shifted to the KLE hospital as they had suffered serious injuries. At least 74 persons were working in the night shift. Around 20 ran out during the fire, police said.

Hita Mrunal Hebbalkar, minister Lakshmi Hebbalkar’s daughter in law visited the spot, got some details from officers and tried to console the families of the workers. She said she would update the minister about the incident.