2005-09-15-Firecracker plant fire kills at least 30 in India

A fire engulfed three illegal firecracker factories in a village in the eastern Indian state of Bihar on Thursday, killing at least 30 people, an official said.

At least 50 others were reported injured in the fire in Khusropur village, 35 kilometers (22 miles) east of the state capital Patna, Superintendent of Police G. P. Sinha told The Associated Press by telephone.

The factories were being run from three houses in the village, and the injured included workers and family members of the owners, Sinha said.

A local government official, Mohammed Qasim Ansari, said the factories did not have valid licenses. He said the owner of one of the three factories had been arrested, and police were looking for the owners of the other two.

Fire trucks rushed to the site. Sinha said the cause of the fire was not immediately known.

Fire safety standards are not followed at most small-town factories in India, many of them running illegally. Evacuation plans are almost never in place at such establishments.