Blaze at firecracker factory outside Indian capital kills 17

A massive fire broke out at a firecracker factory on the northern outskirts of the Indian capital on Saturday, killing at least 17 workers, a fire official said.

A dozen fire engines took three hours to douse the fire in the Bawana industrial area of New Delhi.

"Seventeen bodies have been retrieved from the building," Praveen Kumar, an official at Delhi's emergency service headquarters, said.

Two people suffered injuries and were taken to hospital, he added.

Rescuers were uncertain about the fate of the other workers. A search operation was continuing for any more workers trapped in the two-story structure gutted by the blaze.

Most of the victims died due to asphyxiation, officials said.

The government has launched an investigation to determine the cause of the fire.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was "deeply anguished" by the accident.

"My thoughts are with the families of those who lost their lives. May those who are injured recover quickly," he tweeted.

There are fatal accidents nearly every year in India as people work in makeshift factories in the absence of proper safety standards.

In June of last year, 23 workers were killed when a blast occurred while they were producing firecrackers in Kheri village in the state of Madhya Pradesh in central India. 

The explosion triggered a blaze that engulfed the factory before firefighters put it out.

India has a huge demand for firecrackers, which are used in religious festivals and weddings.

Factories start producing firecrackers months before the nation's biggest Hindu festivals when people set them off in celebration.