Workplace safety standards are often overlooked in many quarters which leads to accidents such as these fires, activists say [Xinhua]
At least 13 factory workers were killed on Friday morning as a fire broke out in a garments factory in Ghaziabad, a suburb on the outskirts of the Indian capital New Delhi.
The fire reportedly injured eight others, four critically so, who were asleep inside the leather factory workshop.
The cause remains largely unknown, however police investigating the incident believe it was due to an electrical short circuit in the basement.
“Everyone worked together to rescue the people inside the building. These included local residents, police, fire and ambulance services,” Deepak Kumar, Ghaziabad’s Senior Superintendent of Police, told reporters.
Police are also investigating the legal status of the factory, which is located in a highly congested residential area.
Activists say the incident is one in a series illustrating the neglect of workplace safety in South Asia’s industrial sector, even in the wake of Bangladesh’s 2013 Rana Plaza disaster, in which more than 1,100 garment workers were killed, Reuters reports.
Last month, eight workers were killed in an explosion at a fireworks factory in Tamil Nadu, a province in the southernmost part of the country.
The BRICS Post with inputs from Agencies
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