As some of the dead and injured at a Bhiwandi godown fire are from Nepal, cops have asked the authority to help them come to the city
A day after a major fire broke out in a godown at Bhiwandi killing eight people and injuring three, the police informed the Nepal Embassy (some of the dead and injured are Nepalese), and asked the authorities to help family members come and claim the bodies of the dead.
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Girish Chauhan said he felt his hand burning and woke up. He is the sole earning member in his family and is worried about earning a livelihood
The injured are worried about their families back home, as they are the sole earning members. A fire had broken out at the godown on Saturday morning. Some locals said it housed chemicals while some said it was a timber workshop.
The three injured persons, Girish Chauhan (21), Bahadur Chauhan (21) and Vinod Yadav (21) were first rushed to IGM Hospital in Bhiwandi, which has no burns ward.
They were later shifted to Thane Civil Hospital. Of the three, Yadav sustained the maximum burns. “He has 43 per cent burns and will require advanced care. The others, Bahadur Chauhan and Girish Chauhan suffered from 23 and 10 per cent burns respectively. They will surely take a month or more for full recovery,” a doctor said.
Guardian Minister of Thane, Eknath Shinde, said after visiting the godown, “An inquiry must be conducted against all these illegal godowns so that lives of more people are not lost.” He has asked the police as well as the state government to conduct an inquiry.
“Manwar Ali Khan, Imitiyaz Ahmed and Shaukat Ali Ansari, owners of the godown, have been arrested under IPC sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of a common intention).
They will be in police custody till January 1. Their business was illegal. Also, there were no fire control measures in the godown. The workers used to sleep there, which is very risky,” said Senior Inspector Anil Akade of Narpoli police station.
He added that they have informed the Nepal Embassy to help the family members come to the city so they can claim the dead. The deceased have been identified as Kalia Gomti Raidat (20), Raju Patetri Chavan (35), Munnibai Shyamdeo Yadav (26), Marai (30), Ajay (38), Gouri Chavan (28), Niraj (21) and another person yet to be identified.