Eleven persons were trapped on the terrace of a four-storey tannery in Bantala after a fire broke out in the building’s godown and were rescued by firemen on Monday afternoon. Sixteen fire tenders were deployed to douse the blaze.
Police said the fire was controlled around 6pm.
Officials in the fire and emergency services department said all 11 people were working inside the tannery, located in the Bantala Leather Complex, when the fire broke out around 2pm. A few of the workers initially tried to douse the blaze.
Later, as the flames kept leaping upwards from the ground floor, all of them scampered to the terrace and kept screaming for help. Fire fighters, members of the disaster management group of Calcutta police and officers reached the spot and rescued the trapped workers.
“Those who were trapped on the terrace were rescued with the help of ropes and ladders,” said an officer of the fire and emergency services department. “One by one, all of them were brought down from the terrace.
One of them was taken to a hospital nearby after he complained of illness. His condition is stable,” he said. The tannery where the fire broke out is in Zone V of the leather complex, which has around 500 tanneries and is spread across 4.5sq km.
Collectively, the tanneries in the complex account for nearly 35 per cent of the country’s leather export. “It appears the godown was stacked with inflammable articles, including chemicals and leather products. Strong winds, accompanied by a drizzle, made the fire-fighting quite challenging,” said fire and emergency services minister Sujit Bose, who oversaw the fire-fighting operation.
“A forensic examination will reveal the cause of the fire. Experts are likely to inspect the spot on Tuesday,” he said.
A fire department officer said: “There were air-conditioning machines, heaps of discarded leather pieces and adhesives. All these contributed to the fire.”
Witnesses said the fire started on the ground floor and spread to the upper levels fanned by strong winds.
Six fire tenders initially reached the spot but additional tenders had to be sent. A skylift was sent to the spot to spray water from the top.
