Six workers were on Wednesday charred to death after a major fire broke out at an air cooler manufacturing unit in Attapur area here, police said. The owner of the unit has been booked for culpable homicide.

A police team on patrolling duty noticed flames erupting from the unit at around 5.15am and immediately alerted fire department officials even as the blaze spread rapidly. Four fire engines were pressed into service to put off the flames and the police personnel, who rushed to save the persons found that the shutters of the unit were locked from inside and after managing to open it, found six charred bodies, a senior police officer said. 

"Six bodies have been taken out from the unit's premises and sent to the state-run Osmania General Hospital for post-mortem," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Shamshabad Zone) P. V. Padmaja Reddy said.

Four out of the six deceased were identified as Irfan, Saddam, Mojahid and Sadu, all aged in their 20s. The deceased belonged to Jharkhand and Bihar, Assistant Commissioner of Police (Rajendra Nagar Division) K. Ganga Reddy said.

The unit located on the main road near the PVNR Expressway, which manufactures air coolers and battery operated vehicles and surrounded by a residential area, was also used as a godown. Pramod, the owner of the unit has been taken into custody, the DCP said, adding usually four workers are present at the unit but on Tuesday two more had joined them.

The owner, who has been booked on charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder, had not taken the minimum required precautions, the ACP said. According to locals, a short-circuit is suspected to have resulted in the fire.

However, Padmaja said the source of the fire is not known and a probe is underway to determine the exact cause. GHMC Commissioner Janardhan Reddy, who visited the fire accident spot, said the government will provide financial assistance of Rs500,000 to the family members of the deceased.

Source :Times Of Oman