A fire at an illegal factory in Delhi's Anaj Mandi area killed 43 people and injured over 50. The factory, located in a crowded residential neighborhood, manufactured school bags and purses and had laborers sleeping inside when the fire started early Sunday morning due to an electrical short circuit. The four-story building lacked proper ventilation, fire safety equipment, and fire clearance from authorities despite being packed with combustible materials and housing over 100 laborers. It was the second deadliest fire incident in Delhi's history.

1. DELHI FIRE TRAGEDY: FIRE AT
ANAJ MANDI FACTORY
By
Murali U (Safety Officer - CML)

2. DELHI FIRE TRAGEDYS
• Delhi government has ordered a magisterial probe into the tragedy, the worst fire
accident in the national capital since the 1997 Uphaar cinema blaze(killed 59
people and injured over 100).
• ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW THIS IS THE SECOND MOST DEADLY FIRE IN DELHI'S
HISTORY

3. ANAJ MANDI TRAGEDY
• DATE : 8 December 2019
• TIME : 4:45–5:00 a.m
• VENUE : Luggage bag factory
• LOCATION : Anaj Mandi area, Delhi,India
• DEATHS : 43
• NUMBER OF FATAL INJURIES : 50 +

4. ANAJ MANDI TRAGEDY

5. ANAJ MANDI TRAGEDY - DETAILS
• On 8 December 2019, a fire occurred at a factory building in Anaj Mandi
area of Delhi, India.
• At least 43 were dead and over 50 were injured in a fire that swept early
Sunday morning through an illegal factory in north Delhi, making it the
second most deadly fire in Delhi's history, according to fire department
officials.
• The four-story building in the cramped, commercial Anaj Mandi
neighborhood was packed with sleeping laborers when the fire broke out.
The fire that broke out at 5 am on the second floor of the building was
reported at 5:20 am and it took over 150 firefighters involving 50 fire
engines nearly four hours to douse the blaze.

6. • According to The Hindu report, the fire started in the second floor of the
building and quickly spread to the third and fourth floor where the workers
had been sleeping. The residents of the first two floor were able to escape
but those on the third and the fourth floor were trapped, since the fire
blocked their exit and the windows had iron grills over them.
• According to the police, most of the people who died were laborers who had
been sleeping inside the factory.
(Police said that most of the deceased were migrant workers from Bihar
who lived in the factory, which manufactured school bags and purses. At
the time of the incident, workers were sleeping inside the building that was
locked from inside)
• Doctors stated that the deaths were due to asphyxiation caused by smoke
inhalation and carbon monoxide poisoning.
• The cause of the fire is still unknown and being investigated. A preliminary
investigation and eye witness claims have blamed an electrical short circuit.

7. • The 600-square yard place was bought 10 years ago by Md Raheem, who
then distributed it among his sons. The 200-square yard portion which
caught fire belonged to one of the sons named Rehan.
• Rani Jhansi Road is packed with illegal factories, most of which lack fire
permits, and overhead electric wires dangle dangerously in congested areas.
• The officials have said that the building was packed with combustible
material.
• Delhi Police detained building owner Rehan in connection with the Anaj
Mandi fire incident. He was booked by the police under IPC sections 304
(culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 285 (negligent conduct
with respect to fire or combustible matter). The case has been transferred to
crime branch.
HISTORY OF BUILDING

8. THE DEATH TRAPS
• Spread over 600 square yards, the building has four to five rooms on each
floor. On the ground floor, the brothers used to run a plastic toy
manufacturing unit. A cardboard manufacturing unit was set up on the first
floor that had little damage.
• On the second floor, there was a garment workshop and they had set up a
jacket making factory and a printing unit. There were two staircases in the
building, out of which one was totally blocked by goods.
• There was no ventilation in the building but had few permanent grilled
windows on each floor that cannot be opened. There was only one exit in the
building that opened into a narrow lane. It was locked from inside at the time
of the fire. Around 100 laborers work in the building and the majority of
them stay back in the factory.
• The fire officials claimed that the owner has no fire NOC. Police officers
requesting anonymity confirmed that they were running factory illegally in
the residential area.

9. MAJOR ISSUES IN ANAJ MANDI TRAGEDY
• They said none of the units had a No-Objection Certificate (NOC) from the fire
department and the congested area made rescue operations difficult.
• The officials have said that the building was packed with combustible material
• The building did not have a fire clearance and no fire safety equipment
• A preliminary probe suggested that a short-circuit triggered the blaze. Power
discom BYPL said the fire began due to "internal System” trouble.
• Of the two staircases in the building, one was blocked by goods. The building also
had a lot of combustible materials How appalling loopholes ignored by authorities
triggered the inside.
• The building in Delhi's Anaj Mandi area where fire broke out early Sunday had no
ventilation.
• (short circuit seems to be the cause of the fire prime facie and that most of the
deaths happened due to suffocation and smoke)

10. • The area is a classic example of factories and small manufacturing
units operating from old, cramped quarters and in blatant
disregard for the fire safety and municipal norms.
• Less than 24 hours before the Sunday's blaze, a fire broke out
at the fourth floor of a similar illegal factory barely 200 meters
away from this building.
• Fire officials claim that they received fire calls quite often from
the area. However, the concerned authorities didn't take any
action against the illegal factories being run in the narrow lanes
where it is difficult for even a single vehicle to pass through.

11. PLEASE DON’T IGNORE SAFETY