Ludhiana factory collapse: 3 missing firemen perceived to be dead, as per report
The three firemen, missing after the plastic factory collapse in Ludhiana have been reportedly declared dead under the debris. The government has announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh to families of all those who died.
“It can be perceived that the three missing firemen — Manohar Lal, Sukhdev and Manpreet — have died in the fire,” says the inquiry report, conducted by sub-divisional magistrate (East) Amarjit Singh Bains.
Even as Ludhiana deputy commissioner Pardeep Kumar Agarwal will take the final call, the report is likely to pave the way for issuing of death certificates to the three families.
None of the families has been handed over the compensation amount as the administration was waiting for the inquiry report into the missing firemen. The rest of the 13 families of the dead have received the death certificates of their kin.
The inquiry report states that the three firemen were present in that portion of the factory, where the fire raged most ferociously when the building collapsed.
“As a result of the collapse, there is a strong possibility that their bodies were severely damaged, crushed and then were burnt before these could be recovered,” the report says.
“From the statements of all the firemen on duty to douse the flames at the plastic factory that day, it is clear that Sukhdev, Manpreet and Manohar Lal were buried under the debris. As the fire took over five days to douse considering the huge amount of chemical stored in the factory that fuelled the fire, the bodies could have been reduced to ashes,” said Bains.
“I will get the inquiry report legally examined and then decide on the future course of action,” the DC said.
-PTC News
