India, Aug. 5 -- Two firefighters were killed and three others injured after a factory wall and a heavy iron beam collapsed on them while they were battling a major fire at an electronic chip manufacturing unit in Greater Noida's Ecotech-3 industrial area early Tuesday. Nearly 500 workers on the night shift were evacuated safely from the building before the collapse, officials said. According to the fire department, the blaze broke out around 3.30 am at ILJIN Electronics, where electronic chips used in household appliances, including washing machines, are manufactured. Six fire tenders were initially rushed to the spot, but additional vehicles were deployed as flames rapidly engulfed the first floor of the two-storey factory. Also Read - GZB: Kanwariya killed in NH-9 road accident, another dies after snakebite Chief Fire Officer Pradeep Kumar Chaubey said the firefighting operation was in its final stages when, around 4.15 am, a side wall and a heavy iron beam suddenly gave way, trapping five firefighters beneath the debris. Rescue teams pulled the firefighters out and rushed them to Yatharth Hospital in Bisrakh, where Fireman Rohit Yadav, 32, and Chief Fire Station Driver Teerathpal Singh, 48, were declared dead. Three others - Rajpal Singh, Manish Kumar and Amit Kumar - sustained injuries and are stated to be out of danger. Fire Station Officer Ajay Kumar Singh said the fire originated in a testing laboratory on the first floor. The factory's alarm system alerted employees, allowing all workers to evacuate before the blaze intensified. Firefighters were carrying out cooling operations after bringing the fire under control when the structure collapsed without warning, he said. Police Commissioner Lakshmi Singh visited the injured firefighters at the hospital and met the families of the deceased. She said a detailed inquiry had been ordered and legal action would be initiated if any violation of safety norms or construction standards, or any negligence by the factory management, was established. She also directed that the building undergo a structural audit by the Public Works Department to determine whether structural weakness contributed to the collapse.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.