Neemrana, Rajasthan, April 25: A catastrophic fire at a scrap warehouse in Neemrana's Mohladia village on Bichpuri Road killed four people, including a 7-year-old girl, after a massive blaze erupted and a subsequent explosion trapped workers inside late on Friday evening, April 25. Authorities confirmed the recovery of all four bodies by Saturday, with forensic teams already deployed at the site and DNA sampling ordered to identify the victims.

How the Fire Broke Out and Spread

The warehouse, which stored large quantities of scrap material including empty perfume bottles, caught fire under circumstances that are still being investigated. The blaze rapidly spread to an adjoining plastic granule manufacturing unit located within the same premises, intensifying the destruction.

A loud explosion inside the factory amplified the fire, sending shockwaves of panic across the surrounding area, which lies adjacent to an industrial zone and nearby residential societies. The explosion is believed to have been triggered by the highly flammable materials stored on-site.

Eyewitnesses reported that a truck parked at the warehouse gate caught fire, effectively blocking the only exit route. Desperate workers attempted to scale the boundary wall toward the adjoining unit but were unable to do so due to its height, sealing their fate inside the inferno.

Rescue Operations and Firefighting Response

Multiple fire tenders were rushed from Neemrana, Ghiloth, and the Japanese Zone industrial area. After nearly two hours of continuous firefighting efforts, the blaze was finally brought under control. Teams from the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and forensic experts were also deployed to assist in rescue and investigation operations.

Senior officials from the district administration and police reached the site to oversee relief and rescue efforts. The four charred bodies were subsequently shifted to a government hospital for post-mortem examination.

What Authorities Said

Satvir Singh, Superintendent of Police, Kotputli-Behror, confirmed: "All four bodies have been recovered, and a thorough search of the entire area has been completed. The FSL team has also begun its investigation at the site. The exact cause of the fire is being ascertained."

Preliminary findings indicate a critical lack of adequate firefighting equipment at both the warehouse and the adjoining factory, which likely contributed to the rapid and uncontrolled spread of the fire. Authorities have flagged this as a serious safety compliance failure.

Missing Workers and Rising Death Toll Fears

Authorities have expressed grave concern that more workers may have been inside the premises at the time of the incident. Local residents confirmed that at least two people remained missing as of the filing of this report, raising fears that the death toll could climb further.

The identities of the four deceased have not yet been officially confirmed. DNA sampling will be conducted to establish identities, given the extent of burn injuries sustained by the victims.

Safety Failures and the Bigger Pattern

This tragedy is not an isolated event. Industrial fire accidents in Rajasthan's rapidly expanding industrial corridors — particularly around the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) zone, of which Neemrana is a key node — have raised persistent questions about fire safety compliance and factory inspection protocols. The Neemrana-Ghiloth belt has witnessed significant industrial growth in recent years, attracting both domestic and Japanese manufacturing firms, yet enforcement of safety norms for smaller warehouses and ancillary units has reportedly lagged behind.

Critics and labour rights advocates have long argued that contract labourers and migrant workers in such industrial clusters operate in conditions with minimal safety infrastructure, fire exits, or emergency training — a systemic vulnerability that incidents like this tragically expose. The fact that a child was present inside an active warehouse also raises urgent questions about child labour monitoring in the region.

As the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) investigation continues and authorities work to identify the deceased, pressure will mount on the Rajasthan government to conduct a comprehensive safety audit of warehouses and small manufacturing units across the Neemrana industrial belt. The outcome of the FSL probe and any subsequent action against warehouse owners will be closely watched.