THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A fire and rescue department official was killed while attempting to douse a major fire that broke out in the warehouse of the Kerala Medical Services Corporation Limited (KMSCL) at KINFRA park in Menamkulam.
JS Renjith, a 32-year-old fireman from the Chakka unit of the state Fire and Rescue Services, suffered fatal injuries after a portion of the building collapsed on him while he was busy putting out the raging flames.
The fireman was pulled out of the rubble with great difficulty and was rushed to a private hospital in the city where he passed away at 3.50 am. Renjith is a native of Attingal and had joined the force six years ago.
The blaze was first noticed around 1.30 am on Tuesday in the section where chemicals are stored. It has been speculated that the fire could have erupted from the spot where the bleaching powder was kept.
A security guard at the warehouse first saw the fire and informed fire services, a police officer told PTI. Only security personnel were present at the spot when the accident occurred. "A beam of the building suddenly fell upon the fireman, crushing him. He was rushed to the hospital but he succumbed to the injuries," he told PTI.
Last week, another warehouse of KMSCL was gutted in a fire in the Kollam district, following which Health Minister Veena George ordered a probe into the incident.
Fire and rescue services units from the district were deployed to fight Tuesday's blaze, which was contained after several hours of effort.
Sources informed TNIE that the chemicals were gutted by the fire while the medicines were not damaged as they were kept in a separate building.
The estimated loss due to the fire is pegged at Rs 1.5 crore.
Expressing profound grief over the death of the fireman, the Health Minister said a direction has already been given to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the fire incident. "Safety audits will be conducted in all drug warehouses under the KMSCL. Fire safety audits will be conducted in hospitals also," she said in a statement, as reported by PTI. Various scientific examinations including forensic tests would be conducted at the fire accident site on the Kinfra campus to ascertain the reasons for the flames, the minister added.
PTI reported that DGP B Sandhya, who visited the fire accident site, said that the drug warehouse building did not have a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the fire and rescue department and there was no mandatory equipment to douse the flames.
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(With inputs from PTI)