A 64-year-old man was killed after a fire broke out at a paint factory and spread to a garment manufacturing unit in Kaikhali, off VIP Road, on Saturday.
The fire broke out around 11am. It took 17 fire tenders and three portable fire-fighting pumps more than an hour to control the flames, an officer of the Bidhannagar commissionerate said.
An official of the fire services department said they discovered the charred remains of a man, who police identified as Kanai Chandra Santra, from Nadial, in the debris. He was a caretaker at the paint factory.
Residents of the area first spotted flames at the paint manufacturing unit, Puja Chemicals.
Chemicals and paint thinner stored in the factory caused the flames to spread rapidly to the adjoining garment unit, Nice Creations.
"We first received an alert from the police that a factory was on fire. Initially, eight engines were sent to the spot. As soon as our teams reached the spot, they called for back-up and additional fire tenders were sent,”said an official in the fire services department.
"As it was New Year, most employees and workers were not inside the factories. However, while searching the debris we found the remains of a man,” the official said.
An officer of the Bidhannagar commissionerate said Santra was a caretaker at the paint manufacturing plant. “He somehow got trapped inside when the fire broke out,” the officer said.