At least 14 fire department personnel were injured -- eight of them seriously -- while battling a major fire at a handicrafts factory here on Wednesday evening, with drums of inflammable chemicals stored at the facility going up in flames -- triggering multiple explosions.

The fire was reported around 5.30 pm. The factory -- located in Ganesh Nagar area -- was locked at the time, but chemicals stored in drums inside the premises caught fire, triggering a series of explosions that made firefighting operations difficult, officials said.