BENGALURU: Panic prevailed for some time on the busy MG Road in the central business district after a fire broke out at Farah Towers Wednesday afternoon. Due to the thick smoke, several people working in the building broke windowpanes and also tried jump out from the second and third floors. However, there were no casualties.
Fire and Emergency Services officials said their control room received an alert around 2.30 pm and five fire tenders were rushed to the spot. A few were stuck inside the offices in the building while some others had rushed to terrace for safety. After about 30 minutes, the fire was doused.
Short circuit suspected to be reason for blaze
“Preliminary probe has established that fire started in the electrical board located next to the lift on the ground floor. It is suspected that short circuit is the reason for the mishap. However, we are investigating the exact cause of the fire,” an official said. The Farah Towers houses a few offices including UCO Bank’s MG Road branch. Usually, there are about 200 people in the building including employees and students of a private training institute.Around 3pm, the fire was raging and smoke sweeping through a closed door, said a student studying at Emertxe Information Technology. “We were all very scared and just wanted to get out of the building. There was smoke everywhere, so we broke the windows to let air in,” he said.
Moula Ali, the caretaker of the neighbouring building, said several students were attempting to jump from the second and third floors. “Me and my colleagues ran with about 20 fire extinguishers and attempted to douse the fire. We also got aluminium ladders to evacuate people and managed to rescue two,” he said. He added that he noticed only one fire extinguisher in the ground floor of Farah Towers.
The firemen evacuated about 30-40 people stuck in the upper floors of the building. Additional DGP of Fire and Emergency Services, Sunil Agarwal, said they were rescued through the staircase. “When the firefighters reached the panicked employees and students, they spent several minutes assuring them it was only a minor fire, after which they were evacuated.”“High-rise buildings have to meet certain basic requirements. This one was built in the ’80s. Despite strict rules and periodical audits, many don’t follow norms,” he added.