At least four persons died and three others sustained injuries after a building housing three plastic item manufacturing units caught fire at Rithala in Delhi’s Rohini on Tuesday evening. The blaze was doused after a 15-hour operation on Wednesday.As per preliminary reports, the cause of the fire is suspected to be a short circuit.In a statement, the police said the owner of the building, Suresh Bansal, and his son Nitin Bansal, ran a factory on the ground and first floors. Nitin (31) is among the injured.Delhi Fire Service (DFS) officials, meanwhile, are also investigating the possibility of the fire being set off during a self-immolation bid by a factory worker.The deceased, all suspected to be migrant workers, are yet to be identified, police said.An officer attached to DFS said they received a call regarding the fire at 7.30 pm on Tuesday. “A blaze had started at a four-storey building near Rithala Metro Station in Rohini Sector 5. At least 16 fire tenders were pressed into service,” the officer said.Story continues below this adAround 1.30 am on Wednesday, three charred bodies were recovered from inside the premises, the police said. Later, one more charred body was retrieved.“We will be conducting DNA tests if required. We are waiting for the family members of the victims to approach,” a police officer said, adding that a case is being registered to probe the incident.An official in the mortuary of Dr Baba Saheb Ambedkar Hospital said, “No family members of the deceased have approached us so far.”Besides Nitin, the other two injured have been identified as Virender (25) and Rakesh (30), who has sustained 80% burns.Story continues below this adThe fire that started around 7 pm on Tuesday was eventually brought under control around 10 am on Wednesday.As thick plumes of smoke turned the sky grey when the fire started, some survivors leapt from the upper floors of the building to save themselves.“I jumped from the first floor to save myself after the exit was blocked by the fire,” said Geeta, one of those who worked in the building.Sitting near the charred building where she had been working for the last five years, she said, “When the fire started, we were inside. The owner, Bansal ji, began shouting for help. By the time we realised there was a fire, it had already turned fatal. I started running, trying to find a way to leave the building. When I couldn’t, I jumped from the first-floor balcony. Three others who were working with me ran upstairs, but I don’t think they survived.”Geeta was fortunate tohave escaped with only minor injuries.Story continues below this adVinod Kumar, who was working on the ground floor when the fire started, said, “The fire broke out between 7 pm and 7.15 pm. We started running, raised an alarm to alert each other, and managed to escape within a minute or two… The owner’s son and one of the workers were badly injured.” He is the brother of Rakesh, who has sustained 80% burns.The police arrived at the scene around 7.20 pm, following which the fire brigade arrived.Vinod alleged that the number of rescue personnel who arrived was not sufficient. “We rushed the injured to BSA Hospital in an e-rickshaw,” he said.Vinod and Rakesh, originally from Gonda in Uttar Pradesh, have been working at the factory for over five years.Story continues below this adAccording to local residents, the 4-storey building produces carry bags on the ground and first floors, napkins on the second, and perfumes on the third floor — all inflammablesubstances. The terrace of the building is covered by tin sheds, which blocked a possible escape from the terrace.Approximately 6-7 workers were working on the ground floor, and another 4-5 on the first floor when the fire started. Those who worked on the second and third floors had already left as their shift had ended around 6 pm. Bharat Singh, an eyewitness, said, “I put up a ladder on the roof of my car to help 3-4 people out of the second-floor balcony.”(Shreyashi Gupta and Anushka Srivastava are interns with The Indian Express)