20150512 India Fire breaks out in CP building, 10 hurt
India May 11 2015 “Building”
Dead : dead 0 or unknown Burnout : 0 or unknown Injured : injured more than 10
Fire breaks out in CP building, 10 hurt
Updated: 2015-05-13-02:41
Ten people, including a few customers, suffered minor burn injuries after a fire broke out at a bank branch in Connaught Place on Tuesday. The blaze was reported from the second floor of Harsha Bhawan located in the middle circle around 11.45am.
Fire officials suspect a short-circuit in an under-repair AC unit on the first floor caused the fire, which eventually spread to the floors above.
Around 200 people, including customers and officials of Oriental Bank of Commerce present inside the building, were evacuated through a window. A total of 17 fire tenders were rushed to the spot and it took two hours to bring the blaze under control.
The injured were taken to the RML Hospital, six of whom had to be admitted at the disaster control unit while the rest were discharged after giving first aid.
O P Taneja, a senior manager of the bank, said he had smelt smoke and alerted the others. “The lights were immediately switched off and we started rushing downstairs. We asked the customers to follow us,” said Taneja.
A few employees said there was a blast in the AC unit, which caused the fire to spread to other floors. “It spread to the floors above within minutes,” said Anil Kumar, an employee.
Senior fire official R K Pandey said his team had to cut open a window grille and evacuate the occupants through it. Some of them were injured while being rescued,” said Pandey. A few of them were led to the terrace of an adjacent building while most of the nearby buildings were evacuated. A disaster management team was pressed in the rescue operations.
Sameer, one of the employees who had helped others evacuate the building, collapsed due to suffocation. “I broke open the windows with a stool to let the smoke blow out as it was getting stuffy inside the rooms,” he said. The situation became worse after people started panicking as soon as an earthquake jolted Delhi and other cities.
Police and fire department officials said the blaze spread rapidly as the rooms inside the bank branch was partitioned with plywood structures. A report from the forensic and fire department is awaited to ascertain the exact cause of the blaze.
Fire officials conducted a cooling operation for another hour. A police team, along with bank officials, reached the spot to take stock of the situation following reports of outsiders entering the building.
DCP Vijay Singh said a case has been registered and a probe was on to establish the culpability, if any.
Web Source: The times of India
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Fire-breaks-out-in-CP-building-10-hurt/articleshow/47256777.cms