A fire that broke out at a commercial building in Coimbatore on Thursday spread fast and claimed the lives of four people before firemen could rescue them.
“It was a very horrible sight. When I entered the office, I saw three charred bodies of the women lying in a single room each just a few feet apart. A young girl’s body was found leaning on the wall just close to the door. When I tried to move it, each part of the body just came apart as the body was completely charred,” said Palaniandi, a constable involved in the rescue operations.
Two women, aged 23 and 27, who got trapped in the fire in the staircase, jumped through a window from the second floor in a desperate attempt to survive.
They suffered fractures in the hip and legs, as they landed on the floor, and are undergoing surgery at a private hospital.
The girls were identified as S Jeevitha (23) and R Sunganya (27), who work as marketing executives in Sharekhan.
Three firemen were also injured in the rescue operation, including one station officer who suffered a bleeding injury to one of his eyes caused by falling broken glass pieces.