Eight workers killed in north India factory blaze

At least eight workers were burnt to death and three others injured in a fire that broke out at a cotton spinning mill in north India, police said Saturday. The workers were trapped inside the factory complex late Friday when a suspected electric short circuit sparked a fire in a stockpile of cotton in Panipat district of Haryana state, according to police.
Scores of other employees escaped unhurt as fire fighters battled the blaze for over five hours. "One more person succumbed on Saturday and the death toll is eight," local police officer Deepak Kumar told AFP. The dead included two women, while one of the injured remained in a critical condition at a hospital, he said.