Fire guts Meerut factory, sports goods destroyed
By IANSFriday, February 11, 2011
MEERUT - A massive fire gutted a sports goods factory in this Uttar Pradesh city, destroying equipment worth lakhs of rupees, police said Saturday. No casualties were reported.
The fire engulfed the Premium Leg Guards Works, which manufactures cricket bats, pads, gloves and other sports goods, late Friday in Transport Nagar area.
“Within minutes, the factory went up in the flames due to the wood and flammable adhesives kept there used for manufacturing cricket bats,” police inspector Umesh Kant told reporters in Meerut, some 450 km from state capital Lucknow.
“It was after nearly three hours that the firefighting officials brought the situation under control. Six fire tenders were pressed into service for dousing the flames,” he said.
Some of the employees, who were trapped inside the factory when the fire broke out, were rescued by the police and firefighters.
An electric short circuit in the factory may have caused the fire, police said.
