A major fire broke out at a chips-making factory in Uttar Pradesh’s Unnao on Sunday. The fire, which began at around 9 am, also engulfed three trucks stationed at a section of the agro factory.
The factory is located in Akrampur area of Unnao, which is midway between Lucknow and Kanpur.
According to reports, workers noticed the blaze and raised an alarm. As they rushed outside, the fire continued to spread across threatening a stockpile of cylinders kept for use.
Three firefighting vehicles were rushed immediately to douse the flames. While the firefighters tried to put out the raging inferno, locals and other factory workers joined in to help.
More fire trucks were called in from Hasanganj, Bagarmau and Kanpur. All the firefighting vehicles were immediately pressed into service.
ANI reports that around 400 employees of the factory have been evacuated to safety.
According to Dainik Jagran, around 80 commercial gas cylinders were inside the factory when the fire started. Had the firefighters not reached on time, the blaze could have engulfed the cylinders which could have led to massive devastation.
The trucks which were engulfed by the fire were at the factory for loading of goods.
At the time of writing, firefighters were still trying to bring the situation under control.