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Protests in India after factory blaze death

PROTESTS swept across a congested New Delhi neighbourhood today after a deadly fire in an illegal factory in the city killed at least 43 people on Sunday.

The protesters fear a repeat of the blaze, in which dozens of sleeping workers were trapped in the four-storey building, which was poorly ventilated and had only one exit.

Firefighters were forced to try and extinguish the flames from 100 metres away due to a lack of space. Survivors and dead bodies were carried out one by one.

The building was marked for residential use but had been illegally converted into a number of small factories. Delhi Municipal Corporation found more than 30,000 such illegal factories last year alone.

One protester, known only as Aslam, said a fire there earlier this year should have acted as a warning.

“The building was a disaster in the making. Almost every building in this neighborhood is unsafe,” he said.

The building’s owner was detained on suspicion of culpable homicide not amounting to murder while investigations continue.

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