Woman killed in EV store blaze would have turned 27 today

Bengaluru: Senior citizen Armugam had sunk into the chair in his Okalipuram home and was thinking about his daughter's future on the eve of her 27th birthday, when a few neighbours dashed in and screamed: "Switch on the TV, the building where our Priya works is on fire!" His peaceful moments were abruptly shattered, and his heart skipped a beat. He gathered himself and rushed towards the electric vehicle showroom, where Priya worked as an accounts executive. But he couldn't find her. Soon, he was told about the unimaginable tragedy that struck his family — Priya had died in the fire accident. "It was her birthday on Wednesday; she was turning 27. How could she leave us and go forever, this is the most cruel thing to happen to us," said a grieving Armugam, adding: "We were looking for a suitable groom and wanted to see her settled in life, but fate has taken a different turn."Priya is survived by two elder brothers, Prakash and Prashanth, and her parents.Puneeth Gowda, owner of the five-year-old showroom, confirmed that six staff members were in the store when the fire broke out due to a short circuit in an electric scooter. When five of them rushed out, Priya panicked, rushed in and locked herself up inside the cashier's cabin. She died of asphyxiation and also sustained burns. Three injured employees — Dileep, Yuvraj and Vedavathi — are undergoing treatment at a hospital. Dileep has sustained severe injuries. Exploding batteries added fuel to firetnnThe flames spread in MY EV showroom on Dr Rajkumar Road within minutes and if not for locals' prompt action, the casualties could have been more. The over two dozen electric scooters and several batteries in the store caught fire and the exploding batteries only made the fire more menacing, eyewitnesses said.The EV store was on the ground floor of the three-storey building, and the two upper floors were residential houses. Fortunately, the first two floors were empty Tuesday as the families had gone out on a holiday, said Pravin, an eyewitness. "I saw the fire and started screaming, and immediately some people in the neighbourhood rushed and tried to pull out as many people as possible from the store through the main door," he said.Deputy director, fire and emergency services, Younis Ali Kausar said, "We have to find how the incident happened. The full full extent of losses due to the blaze will be known after investigation."Another fire officer said they doused the flames in 50 minutes. Twenty-five personnel and four vehicles — two water tenders of 4,500 litres capacity each, one water bowser of 16,000 litres and a rescue vehicle — were involved in the operation."The front of the showroom has been gutted, leaving only metal behind. If we hadn't acted quickly, the damage would have been much worse," the officer added.DCP (north) Saidulu Adavath, said, "The EV showroom was supposed to have fire extinguishers and trained personnel, but none of this was in place. Multiple batteries stored in the showroom caught fire after sparks, triggered by short circuit, fell on them."
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