An accidental fire broke out at Berger Paints India Ltd's Howrah Factory today at around 2.20 pm yesterday affecting the exit gate and the raw material handling area.

The production area remained completely unaffected. 21 of company's employees received injuries in an attempt to douse the fire. Most of them are out of danger currently.

A few of them are critical and under close observation. All of them are receiving best possible medical assistance. The fire was initially contained by the efforts of our team and was brought under complete control by the fire brigade. The reason for the occurrence is under investigation.

However, preliminary investigation points towards electrical short circuit in an AC unit.

The operation of the factory is temporarily stopped but is expected to resume in a couple of days.