Toll rises to 7 in Bikaner godown fire

The death toll in the blaze at a firecracker warehouse in a congested area of the city has reached seven with the recovery of four more bodies from the debris, police said today.
"As many as seven persons have been killed in yesterday's fire. The debris of the godown was cleared last night," a police official said.
The fire had broken out yesterday in the illegal firecracker warehouse, located in the densely-populated Naya Shahar area, leaving seven dead, 12 injured and resulting in the collapse of three buildings adjacent to the unit.
Juhran (62), Mohammad Hafiz(38), Mohammad Shakeel(45), who lived next to the warehouse, were killed in the fire. The other four - Bajraj Valmiki (23), Vijay Kumar (20), Nadeem (25) and Mohammad Nazim (16) - were trapped in the warehouse, police added.

The owner of the warehouse Kailash Pareek has been arrested under Sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), as well as Section 3(causing explosion likely to endanger life or property) of the Explosive Substances Act (EPA).