20200131 Fire at Paikpara building sparks panic
India Jan 31 2020 “Building” “Warehouses”
Dead : dead 0 or unknown Burnout : 1 to 29 Injured : injured 0 or unknown
Fire at Paikpara building sparks panic
Updated: 2020–01–31
Kolkata: A fire broke out at a four-storey building on Birpara Lane near Paikpara on Thursday afternoon following a blast in the garage, which had been converted into a fireworks warehouse. About 20 fire tenders took nearly two and a half hours to douse the flames. No casualty was reported.
Panic gripped around 24 people living in the building.
While the blast occurred at 1.40pm, all of them vacated their flats and came down to the street in 20 minutes. Swarup Karmakar, one of the residents, found it an uphill task to help his 72-year-old ailing mother-in-law Chandana Barua climb down the stairs. Chinmoy Ghosh, a businessman, who owns a second-floor flat, vacated the flat with his wife and pregnant daughter.
However, neither the fire officials nor the residents had an inkling about the source of the fire. They were all surprised when some fire fighters cut the shutter of the garage and found the fireworks warehouse. After the fire was extinguished, locals gathered at the spot and demanded a strong action against the promoter who had constructed the building and allowed the garage to be turned into a fireworks warehouse.
Bappa Sil, another resident of the building, said, “It is a matter of relief that the explosives have been deactivated.”
Anupam Biswas a marketing manager and a resident demanded a probe into the conversion of a garage space into a fireworks warehouse in a residential area.
An officer of Chitpore PS said they have started a probe and would book the culprit in consultation with the officials of KMC and fire services department.
Web Source: The times of India