Two killed in Maruti R&D centre fire

CITU seeks 50 lakh compensation each for kin of victims

Two persons were killed when a fire broke out at the Maruti Suzuki’s Research and Development Centre in Rohtak on Monday.

The company shared information about the incident with the National Stock Exchange of India saying the fire broke out in one of the buildings at the centre where a new lab expansion was being carried out by a third party project company. “Unfortunately, two people working with a contract firm of the project company succumbed in the fire. The company deeply mourns this loss of life and stands with the families of the deceased in this moment of grief,” said the company’s statement to the NSE.

The statement said there were no other injuries and the incident did not affect production operations of the company.

A three-member CITU delegation, led by Rohtak district secretary Vinod Deswal, met the relatives and colleagues of the deceased workers at the Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, during the day and said that the rescue team sent by the company reached the spot about three hours after the incident. “The deceased have been identified as Arjun Singh and Manoj. Their colleagues said that the two could not remove their safety belts in time and suffocated to death,” said Mr. Deswal.

He demanded ₹50 lakh compensation each for the next of kin of the deceased and registration of a criminal case against those responsible for the incident.