THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A major fire broke out at Cantonment House, the official residence of Leader of Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan, late on Saturday night. Pinarayi and family have not moved to the residence yet as maintenance works are going on.
Fire and Rescue Services officials said fire broke out in the room - situated at the backside of the building - that was used as office by V D Satheesan when serving as the Leader of Opposition. The fire later spread to multiple rooms.
Pinarayi is yet to move into the residence as Satheesan had only moved out months after assuming charge as the chief minister, due to the ongoing renovation works. No casualties have been reported.
According to police officials who were on security duty, they spotted the fire around 10 pm, adding that the room only had furniture inside it. Soon after, they informed the fire force officials, who put out the fire by 11 pm.
Museum SHO said that only furniture was stored in the room. He added that a probe will be initiated into the incident. Officials are yet to arrive at a preliminary reason for how the fire broke out. It is suspected that short circuit might have led to the fire.
Cultural Affairs Minister P C Vishnunadh, whose official residence ‘Nila’ is near the Cantonment House, visited the site and evaluated the situation.
