Blaze kills two in agarbathi unit

 

DEATH TRAP: Fire and Emergency Services personnel dousing the fire at an agarbathi unit at K.P. Agrahara near Magadi Road in Bangalore on Thursday.

Bangalore: Two men were charred to death and eight injured when an agarbathi manufacturing unit caught fire at Bhuvaneshwari Nagar on Magadi Road in K.P. Agrahara here on Thursday amidst an allegation that the owner had locked the main door, trapping the employees. The fire, coming a day after the blaze at a multiplex, broke out at around 9.30 a.m. At least 15 fire-tenders and 80 Fire and Emergency Services Department personnel struggled for nearly six hours to douse the conflagration.

Victims from Bihar


The dead men are Jai Singh (20) and Shoaib (35), natives of Bihar who were staying near K.P. Agrahara. Five workers — Khader, Rajesh, Bisilaiah, Karthik and Shankar — were treated for minor burns while three women employees — Latha, Veena and Chellamma — collapsed owing to asphyxiation and were admitted to hospital, Department of Fire and Emergency Services sources said. Eerappa, Chief Fire Officer (West), Department of Fire and Emergency Services, blamed the fire on negligence of the proprietor. “The fire broke out in a three-storeyed building which does not have any fire fighting equipment. Except a few ventilators, it has no windows or a backdoor for emergency exit,” he told The Hindu. The unit belongs to Ravichandra, a native of Andhra Pradesh, who has been in the business for the past several years. He had stored around 1,000 litres of highly inflammable chemicals, fumigants, aromatic accessories and other raw materials in the building, said an officer of K.P. Agrahara police station and added that the deceased Shoaib’s brother, Khader, had filed a case of negligence against the owner. Local people alleged that the owner had locked the main door of the building when the fire broke out, which prevented the trapped employees escaping. “We saw the flames and smoke and rushed to rescue them, but we were helpless,” said Raju and Kiran, autorickshaw drivers and added that they were joined in vain by passers-by. Several lakhs of rupees worth materials were stored in the building and hence the owner had locked the main door, an injured worker, who did not want to be named, told The Hindu. The agarbathi unit employs 30, of whom 10 employees were on duty. Some of them were boiling a chemical on a kerosene stove on the third floor when it caught fire. When their efforts to put out the fire went in vain, panic ensued and other employees, especially the women, tried to break open the main door. Finally it was the public who forced it open, he said. But the K.P. Agrahara police, who have registered a case against the owner Ravichandra under Section 304 A (Causing death by negligence) and Section 337 (Causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) of the Indian Penal Code, denied the door was locked. “The owner himself was in the factory and helped. He has not been arrested,” K.P. Agrahara, station inspector K.B. Swamy Kumar told The Hindu.

Fire at Agarbathi Factory

 

Fire at multiplex, man found dead

 

Gutted: The hall of Innovative Multiplex at Marathahalli in Bangalore that was destroyed in fire early on Wednesday.

BANGALORE: Fire broke out at Innovative Multiplex, Marathahalli, in the early hours of Wednesday and completely gutted one of the halls. A 35-year-old man was found dead in a generator room of the multiplex. The cause of death is yet to be ascertained. The fire broke out just an hour after the screening of the last show was over at 1 a.m. The security guard at the multiplex saw fire in an air-conditioner duct in Screen 2 of the multiplex. He called multiplex supervisor Shivasanga, a trained fire-fighter, who could not control the spread of the fire. The Fire and Emergency Services personnel came to the spot around 3 a.m., when most of Screen 2 had been burnt and the fire was spreading to Screen 1. “The fire had totally burnt the theatre, including the screen and seats in Screen 2. We cooled the area involved in the fire and put it out around 6 a.m. We made use of the water hydrants available in the multiplex,” said Chief Fire Officer Erappa, who supervised the operations.

Investigations are on to find the cause of fire.

While winding up the operations, the police found the dead person. The police identified him as Velu (38), a canteen attendant. “He was fast asleep in the room, which is far away from the place of fire. The cause of his death is yet to be ascertained,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (South East) B.N.S. Reddy.

This is for the first time that fire has broke out in a multiplex.

Many film buffs and other visitors to Forum Mall in Koramangala panicked following a fire that fire broke out in the kitchens of the Transit Food Court on the second floor of the building.

‘Regular training essential for fire brigade personnel’

 

Marching ahead: Fire brigade personnel at the passing-out parade in Hubli on Friday.

HUBLI: Hubli Dharwad Police Commissioner N. Shivakumar has said that providing regular training to fire brigade personnel is essential as they are involved in protecting life and property of the public. He was addressing a gathering of personnel of the Fire and Emergency Services after receiving a guard of honour from them during the 54th passing-out parade here on Friday. Mr. Shivakumar said that fire brigade personnel regularly came across risky situation and they required professional skills to deal with them. It was heartening to note that in spite of lack of infrastructure, the temporary training centre had succeeded in imparting good training to the personnel, he said. The Police Commissioner called upon the candidates who had just finished training not to be content with their skills after joining government service. They should make efforts to hone the skills, he said. Presiding over the function, Director of the Fire and Emergency Services B.G. Chengappa said that the State Government would be setting up fire stations in all taluks and 67 station heads selected for the purpose had been given training.The process to select 116 technical staff, 395 drivers and 1,234 fire brigade personnel was under way, he said. Chief Fire Officer N.R. Markandeya welcomed the gathering and presented a brief report of the training camp. Later, he administered an oath to candidates who had successfully completed the training. Regional Fire Officer N.R. Shivashankar was among those present.

Policeman, son charred to death

BANGALORE: A 50-year-old police constable and his 15-year-old son were killed in a fire that broke out in the Karnataka State Reserve Police quarters near Krupanidhi College in Koramangala on Thursday. According to Deputy Commissioner of Police (South East) B.N.S. Reddy, the fire broke out in the house of Monappa, a driver, who has been deputed to the Lottery and Excise Enforcement Cell. Monappa and his son Srinath (15) were charred to death while Monappa’s wife and their two children escaped. “We are investigating the cause of fire,” Mr. Reddy said. While the Fire and Emergency Services personnel, who rushed to the spot, said the fire broke out when a petrol can got ignited.

21 people die as bullock cart overturns while crossing rivulet

 

Heart-rending scenes: Grieving relatives of the dead at the scene of the accident in Chitradurga district on Wednesday.

CHITRADURGA: In a tragic accident, 21 people of a group of 24 died when the bullock cart in which they were travelling overturned while crossing the Hagari rivulet, trapping them under it. The incident occurred between Machenahalli and Venkatapur villages in Molkalmur taluk of Chitradurga district around 1.30 p.m. on Wednesday. Eighteen bodies have been recovered so far, including those of four women and 11 children.The group was returning from Machenahalli to Venkatapur after attending a marriage. The rivulet divides the two villages and, in the absence of a proper road between them, people have been crossing the rivulet for several years. Their demand for a bridge has fallen on deaf ears, a resident of one of the villages said. According to local people, the rivulet is not deep. Most of the victims were asphyxiated because they were unable to extricate themselves from beneath the heavy cart. On receiving the information, the police, along with Fire and Emergency Services personnel, rushed to the spot and launched a rescue operation. Local swimmers helped retrieve the bodies. Two persons who were injured have been shifted to a hospital in Bellary. One boy escaped unhurt. When this correspondent visited the accident spot, rescue operations were still under way and efforts were being made to retrieve three more bodies. It was a heart-rending scene to see the bodies laid on the bank of the rivulet surrounded by their inconsolable relatives. Among the bereaved was Mallikarjun, who had lost his wife and three children. Their bodies were yet to be found. Police had a tough time shifting the bodies to hospital for post-mortem. The deceased have been identified as Kallarappa (18), Honnurappa (16), Lakshmi (12), Basanna (16), Marenna (12), Yogesh (10), Nemkallappa (23), Swapna (6), Thippeswamy (12), Durganna (30), Lakshmi (25), Shantamma (4), Navin (6), Lakshmakka (35), Lakshmi (16), Obulaswamy (1), Shivamma (13) and Hanumanna (55). Deputy Commissioner Aditya Amlan Biswas visited the spot and supervised the rescue operations. N.Y. Gopalakrishna, Molkalmur MLA, told presspersons at the accident spot that illegal sand extraction was to blame for the tragedy. He demanded that the Government give compensation of Rs. 5 lakh to Rs. 10 lakh each to the families of the deceased.

Fire damage at railway station

Destroyed: The Unreserved Ticketing System (UTS) counter at Shishuvinahalli Railway Station near Hubli that was damaged in a fire in the early hours of Monday.

HUBLI: The Unreserved Ticketing System (UTS) counter at Shishuvinahalli Railway Station was gutted in a fire caused by a suspected electrical short-circuit in the early hours of Monday.
No one was hurt and train services were unaffected.According to railway officials at Shishuvinahalli, which is 27 km from Hubli, fire was noticed in the UTS room of the railway station around 3.30 a.m. The driver of the Vijayawada-Hubli Passenger train alerted the railway control room, and railway officials alerted the Fire Services. A fire-engine from Annigeri arrived at the railway station around 4.40 a.m. Meanwhile, senior railway officials including the Divisional Safety Officer rushed to the spot. The fire-fighters put out the fire by 6.40 a.m.Loss

Apart from the UTS counter, a stand-by generator, doors and windows of the room and the roof were burnt. An initial estimate put the loss at Rs. 13 lakh. The Divisional Safety Officer recorded the statement of the commercial clerk at the station, Satyamaiah, and will file a detailed report on the fire, the officials said. Railway authorities have made temporary arrangements to issue tickets to passengers at the station.