Fire at startup hub in Bengaluru, losses put at Rs 140 crore

BENGALURU: A massive fire on Tuesday evening at the Bangalore Bioinnovation Centre, a premier life sciences incubation hub in Electronics City, caused losses estimated at Rs 140 crore.

The fire, which started in a startup laboratory on the second floor, is suspected to be due to improper handling of a flammable solvent. The second floor was destroyed, while the first and ground floors also sustained significant damage.

Fire and emergency services officials said the blaze broke out at 4.30am, triggering a siren. "There were two men inside — a security guard and housekeeping staffer. Hearing the siren and noticing the flames on the ground floor, the two tried to douse them and called us later," a fire brigade official said.

The building has two floors. "Some startups work on the second floor, which suffered the maximum damage," a police officer said, adding, "We suspect a short circuit or mishandling of chemicals to be the root cause. The damages caused are yet to be assessed," he added.

Four fire engines extinguished the flames in under 90 minutes.