Bengaluru cafe fire: Blast, smoke & gas cylinder shards
BENGALURU: Following the massive fire accident on Hosur Road in SG Palya police limits on Wednesday, eyewitnesses and staff from other establishments in the ill-fated complex and nearby shops recalled the afternoon of panic.
Zakir S, who works at a bakery in Shivajinagar, and was passing by, said, “I was walking from Tavarekere and as I approached Hosur Road, some material fell at the rear of the car showroom building. It was a piece of a gas cylinder. There was panic and traffic was slow. I realized it was due to a fire and I froze for the moment,” said Ali. A civil defence staffer present at the venue after the fire broke out, said the cylinder was ripped apart and flattened due to the explosion.
Rama Dass, a mobile phone accessories seller on the footpath opposite, said he stays just half a km from the fire site. On hearing the explosion, he rushed towards the spot and noticed thick black smoke emanating from the top of the building, and the entire stretch of Hosur Road in a traffic snarl.
Krishna Kumar, a staffer at a branded car showroom on the ground floor, lost his scooter in the fire tragedy. “I came to work from Nagarbhavi and parked my scooter at the building premises. Due to the fire on the top floor, melted plastic and glass fell on the scooters parked there including mine. Five scooters were already destroyed. A car that was due for delivery at 3pm also was damaged.”
A fitness enthusiast who had come to the fitness centre on the third floor of the building atop which the fire raged, said he had taken a nap after a workout session and woke up due to heavy smoke and heat. As the fire was put off on time, there was no damage to the fitness centre or the people inside.