Four workers die in Mangolpuri shoe factory fire; two managers arrested

Four workers died and two others remained in hospital after a fire broke out around 9.30 pm on October 31 in the basement of a shoe factory in Mangolpuri Industrial Area Phase-I. Firefighters used up to 31 tenders and brought the blaze under control by about 6 am the next morning. Six people were pulled out unconscious; four were declared dead at Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital.

The deceased were identified as Ashok, 25, from Nalanda in Bihar; Harihar Chaurasiya, 40, of Mangolpuri; Lal Babu, 38; and Prem Chand, 50. The two injured, Vikas and Harinder, were admitted to intensive care. Police arrested co-owner Suresh Chand, 76, of Pitampura, and supervisor Ashok, 47, of Rohini. They face charges under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita covering culpable homicide not amounting to murder, negligent conduct with combustible material, and acts endangering life. Teams continued searching for other partners.

The building has a basement, ground floor and three upper floors, plus a partial structure on the fourth. Fire officials said the blaze started in the basement where materials were stored. Rescue teams found one person on the third floor and five in a room on the fourth. Workers had reported that raw-material cartons often blocked staircases. The unit held a factory licence issued in 2024 and a Delhi Pollution Control Committee clearance valid until 2039, but lacked a fire no-objection certificate. Inspectors later noted sealed exhausts, iron sheets on gates and inadequate ventilation that slowed rescue.

Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta expressed condolences. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi said the premises sit in a DSIIDC industrial area and carried a valid licence, so routine inspections had not been carried out under the ease-of-doing-business policy. Fire service officers described the absence of a smoke-detection system and obstructed escape routes as factors that trapped workers. Families waited outside the mortuary seeking answers.

The case adds to a series of industrial fires in Delhi in which blocked exits and missing clearances have been cited. Police registered the FIR at Raj Park police station. The two arrested men were sent to judicial custody. Investigators are checking how many people were inside when the fire started and whether management ignored earlier complaints about storage practices. The outcome will turn on whether the blocked routes and lack of fire clearance meet the threshold for culpable homicide charges that have already been filed.