Palghar factory fire: Officer booked for allegedly refusing to send fire engines

Fire and explosion in a chemical factory at Palghar

A fire officer has been booked for allegedly refusing to send fire engines after getting a call about a blaze in a chemicals factory, police said today. A major fire broke out after an explosion inside a boiler of a chemicals factory in the district on Thursday night, in which three people were killed and 15 others injured.

"We have booked the fire officer S S Borkar of Tarapore fire station following a complaint by District Collector Prashant Narnawre," said in-charge Inspector Prakash Birajdar of Boisar police station. Birajdar said the officer did not send fire engines to the spot even after requests were made by the police control room.

According to Birajdar, the fire officer reportedly told police and officials of the Disaster Control Cell that he cannot send fire engines without permission of his seniors. Meanwhile, Palghar Guardian Minister Vishnu Sawra has ordered an inqury into the incident and assured that the guilty will be punished.

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