Chennai, January 16: A major fire broke out at a building at Ezhilagam in Chepauk, Chennai, around 12:30 am on Monday, killing one and injuring three persons. The fire broke out in the offices of Director of Industries and Commerce and Director of Social Welfare.
Seeing the first floor of the building catch fire, the watchman of the Industries office, Bague, called the police at midnight. The police and fire officials arrived at the spot and doused the fire in an hour. Believing that the fire was fully doused, a team led by Divisional Fire Officer, Central Chennai, Priya Ravichandran, entered the building around 1:30 am and suddenly the roof caved in. K.Anbazhagan (55), leading fireman at Teynampet station, died on the spot.
Ms. Ravichandran, Murugan (37), SSO, Ashok Nagar, and fireman Prabhakaran (22) suffered injuries. The injured have been taken to different hospitals for treatment. Anbazgagan’s body was sent to Government General Hospital.
Around 15 water tenders and 30 water lorries were used to fully douse the fire. More than 150 fire-fighters were present at the accident site. The reason for the fire remains unknown and is under investigation.
–Agencies