Six people were charred to death after
a massive fire engulfed a firecracker godown in Attibele, Bengaluru on Saturday.
Bengaluru: Twelve people are confirmed after a massive fire completely gutted a firecracker godown-cum-shop in Attibele area in Anekal taluk of Karnataka’s Bengaluru on Saturday. According to officials, six people were charred to death while, four others, including the owner of the firecracker shop grievous sustained burn injuries and were rushed to a hospital for medical attention.
An official said one of the injured who received critical burn injuries in the inferno has been referred to another hospital for specialized treatment.
Most of them who died were employees working in the firecracker godown-cum-shop, police said, adding efforts are being made to ascertain the identity of the deceased.
Visuals of the massive fire which are doing the rounds on social media showed the building engulfed in towering flames as plumes of thick black smoke emanating from the inferno fill the surrounding areas.
VIDEO | Fire breaks out at a firecracker shop in Attibele, Karnataka; several fire tenders are at the spot. More details are awaited. pic.twitter.com/goxkrVBN6D
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) October 7, 2023
Vehicles parked outside the premises, presumably belonging to the firecracker unit, can also be seen on fire, another video showed.
#WATCH | Karnataka: Fire broke out at a firecracker shop in Attibele. Several fire tenders were present at the spot. Further details awaited. pic.twitter.com/HcAzWItPVZ
— ANI (@ANI) October 7, 2023
Flames and towering clouds of black smoke can be seen emanating from the charred building even in videos shot from a fair distance.
10 persons were killed after #Fire breaks out at a #firecracker shop in #Attibele on #Karnataka #TamilNadu border ; several fire tenders are at the spot. pic.twitter.com/eIeGCkJdGr
— Madhuri Adnal (@madhuriadnal) October 7, 2023
The incident occurred around 3.30 pm while unloading firecracker cartons from a transport vehicle, police said, adding fire-fighters are at the spot conducting a search operation to ascertain if there are more bodies.
Meanwhile, police said they have recovered the bodies of twelve people from inside the shop while searches are on to ascertain if there are more bodies of victims inside the structure.
“Some employees were working inside the shop when the fire broke out. We have recovered 12 charred bodies from the spot so far. All these bodies have been shifted to hospital. Search operations are still underway to ascertain if there are more bodies inside the gutted shop,” Superintendent of Police (Bengaluru Rural) Mallikarjun Baladandi told news agency PTI.
“More than five fire engines were pressed into operations and the fire has been under control now,” he said.
Preliminary enquiry has revealed that about 12 to 15 people were working at the shop when the fire broke out. Experts from the Forensic Science Laboratory team have also visited the spot for examination. The exact cause of the fire is being verified, he added.
“We are gathering information about the exact number of people who were inside the shop at the time of the incident from the injured and family members of the employees. Efforts are being made to identify the bodies. There are chances we may recover more bodies as a search operation is still underway,” he said.
Firecrackers worth several lakhs were stored in the godown for the upcoming Deepavali festival. It caught fire and started exploding, police said.
The exact cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained, they said.
According to official sources, Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar is also expected to visit the spot.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah expressed his condolences over the fire incident and announced he will visit the site of the mishap tomorrow.
“I am deeply saddened to hear the news that 12 people died in a fire accident that broke out in a firecracker store near Anekal, Bengaluru urban district. I am going to visit the accident site tomorrow and inspect it. My condolences to the family of the deceased workers,” CM Siddaramaiah posted on X.