Pune factory fire: 17 bodies recovered, 15 of them women

A spark in the heat-up, which caused plastic packing material is believed to be the cause of the fire at Pune's SVS Aqua Technologies factory, which claimed the lives of at least 17 people on Monday.

Devendra Potphode, Chief Fire Officer, Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA) Pune told ANI, "The company deals with water purifying chemical, Chlorine dioxide, which is not fire-prone. It is packed in plastic, and while the packing work was in process, the heat-up sparked. The plastic then immediately caught fire".

Potphode also informed that women who were packing could not understand which way to run as the fumes from both plastic and chlorine were too strong.

A total of 17 bodies, out of which 15 were women, have been recovered from the site.

Cooling and search operation are still underway, Potphode said.

( With inputs from ANI )