Solan, Jan 13 (UNI) Following a major fire incident that broke out in a four-storey building owned by Rajiv Gupta, situated at Arki Bazaar near UCO Bank, the police released a list of missing persons trapped inside the building during the fire tragedy.
Solan Superintendent of Police Gaurav Singh said the building, constructed of wood and mud, was being used for commercial as well as residential purposes.
The ground and first floors were used as shops, while the third and fourth floors were occupied by migrant families from Bihar and Nepal. Due to the intensity of the fire, the entire structure collapsed and was completely gutted.
The Arki police registered a case under Section 287 of the BNS.
He said that during the rescue and relief operations, one male child aged about 8 years, belonging to a Bihar-origin family, was rescued in an injured condition and later succumbed to injuries in the hospital.
During rescue and debris clearing operations, two dead bodies were recovered in burnt and fragmented (in pieces) condition. Post-mortem of the recovered bodies is being conducted.
Seven Nepalese-origin persons are still untraced and are suspected to be trapped under the debris. The missing persons were identified as Dhan Bahadur (35), Kavita (33), Radha (16), Renuka (12), Ranjan (2), Kanshi Ram (48), Tika (31), Anu (11), and Sandeep (3).
The SP said that rescue and firefighting operations were launched with the deployment of Home Guards, including teams from Solan and Kotli, along with six fire tenders from Solan, Nalagarh, Banlag, Ambuja, Arki, and Baluganj, to control the blaze.
He added that a team of forensic experts visited the spot and collected samples from the site of the fire incident. The cause of the fire could not be ascertained at the time of filing this report and will be determined after the receipt of reports from the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) and the Fire Department.
He further said that the fire has been brought under control and rescue and search operations are continuing on a war footing. Debris is being removed with the help of two earth-moving machines to facilitate a systematic search.
The NDRF team will join the rescue operation tomorrow. Post-mortem and forensic examinations are currently in progress.
Arki fire mishap: Police release list of missing persons
