Bengaluru : At least 14 people burned to death and more than five hospitalised with injuries after devastating fire broke out at a firecracket warehouse near Attibele, on the Karnataka –Tamilnadu boarder an outskirts of bengaluru. Rescue operation were on as a total of 20 workers were at the site.
The deceased labourers are mostly from neighbouring Tamil Nadu, according to police report. Fire broke out on Saturday evening at the Balaji Traders facility on Attibele Main road, along Bengaluru-Hosur Main Road, while truckload of crackers was being unloaded ahead of the Deepavali festivities. Exact reason behind the blaze was not known, there were speculations about sparks flying around while the crackers boxes were being dumpewd, while some said fire could have been triggered by a discarded burning cigarette butt.
The godown is owned by one Ramaswani Reddy who was arrested by police on Sunday. His son Naveen Kumar has been taken into custody for questioning. In less than few minutes, as the flames spread, one truck, three mini goods carriers and half a dozen other vehicles parked near by were reduced to ashes.
Fire started with a flicker, But within minutes, it unleashed mayhem as the firecrackers warehouse was gutted people gathered at the site said. Person who stayes near the warehouse, dialled the fire services number on seeing sparks and people running helter-skelter, “I heard crackers bursting and i sensed something amiss and within second things started going out of control and the sound only intensified”, they added.
As police alerted fire and emergency services, more than 20 fire tenders were pressed into service to put out the blaze. However, battling for more than five hours by fire service personnel to bring the blaze under control. The bodies that were recovered were charred beyond recognition, police said.
Eye witness said “Labourers at the godown were busy unloading , They would have got trapped and found nowhere to run as the from entrance was blocked by the truck from which crackers were being unloaded. Even the nearby door was stacked with boxes” he added.
