Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Dec 31 (IANS): In a year-end tragedy, six workers were suffocated to death in their sleep when a major fire engulfed a factory in the MIDC area of the town early on Sunday, officials said.

The incident was reported around 2.30 p.m. from a factory of the Sunshine Enterprises, engaged in manufacturing hand-gloves at the Waluj MIDC complex, said a police official.

Following a call, the police and fire brigade teams rushed there to find the factory turned into an inferno from all sides.

The locals informed that there were at least half a dozen people trapped inside and some others managed to escape from the conflagration, the exact cause of which is not clear.

Later, when the fire-fighters could enter the factory premises, they came across the bodies of six workers which have now been sent for identification and other formalities.

Other workers said that the factory was closed at night and the more than a dozen labourers were sleeping inside the premises when the blaze broke out catching them virtually off-guard.

While several managed to run away and escape the burning building, six workers were trapped inside and succumbed to the fumes and flames, said the official.

Minister Sandipanrao Bhumre, who rushed to the scene this morning, said that the incident will be thoroughly probed from all angles and nobody would be spared.

Meanwhile, the fire-fighters have brought the fire under control after nearly six hours and cooling operations are underway, the official said.