Chennai: Five injured in fire accident at commercial complex

By Aarthi Nagesh
CHENNAI: Five people were injured after a fire broke out on the ground floor of a three-storeyed commercial complex near Ashok Pillar in Ashok Nagar on Saturday. Though there were no casualty, the fire which broke out at 2pm created panic in the bustling neighbourhood.
At least 50 people were inside the building when fire broke out. The fire and rescue service personnel and bystanders rescued five people and rushed them to the hospital after they fainted inhaling the smoke.Ladders were used to rescue people from second and first floor. The building has shops in the ground floor and offices on two floors.
A 35-year-old man, who runs an advertising agency, had a miraculous escape after he jumped from second floor window of the building onto terrace of an adjacent building. He was rescued with minor injuries.
A fire and rescue service official said an electrical short circuit suspected to have started at a switchboard in the ground floor could be a cause of the accident.
Eye-witnesses told police that the fire spread to a few shops on the ground floor but did not spread to other floors. Staff of some firms and a few shop keepers switched off their power supply to prevent the fire from spreading further into shops on the ground floor and first floor. However, the billowing smoke that reached the other floors caused panic and inconvenience to occupants.
Vinay Krishna, 35, who jumped from a window on to an asbestos roof of the adjacent building said, "There was thick smoke in the corridor when I came out of my office. I could not see anything. I was pushed to the window at the end of the corridor. The only thought in my mind was to save myself for my family when I jumped."
Many neighbours were not aware about the accident, until they saw the fire and rescue personnel landed at the place to put down fire.
Another witness Anbu Selvan, who runs a magazine, said, "There are a lot of problems at the electricity board and due to this, we suffer often due to power cut and when we complain to EB office, they never turn up."