Four people were killed and as many injured when a fire broke out at a shoe factory in New Delhi on Monday morning, The Indian Express reported.

The deceased have not yet been identified but are believed to be workers at the factory, a police officer said. They died of suffocation and burn injuries, an officer of the Delhi Fire Service told IANS.

The blaze started because of a short circuit at the Raja Park factory in Sultanpuri locality around 6.35 am, according to the fire officer. There were around a dozen labourers inside the factory when the fire broke out.

Nine fire tenders went to the spot and put it out by 9.50 am, the officer said. The injured were taken to Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital.