Bengaluru apartment fire remains a mystery

Bengaluru: The mystery behind the Ashrit apartment fire incident at Devarachikkana Halli in which two women perished and five suffered severe burns, on Monday, deepened as two cooking gas cylinders in the flat of the victims are intact. It was earlier believed that the fire was triggered by explosion of one of the cylinders. The Bengaluru police as well as officials of the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) are investigating the cause of the fire. A team of electrical engineers are expected to probe if any defects in wiring triggered the fire.

The blaze is being attributed to the alleged negligence of the BBMP and apartment owners.

The apartment doesn't have any fire safety provisions.

To top it all, a transformer is installed right in the apartment complex in contravention of safety rules. It also shows glaring lapse on the part of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).

Then what caused the fire? Is it UPS or mobile charging that triggered fire? Or is it pooja room from where the flame was ignited? There are many unanswered questions.

According to reports, Bhagya Rekha, one of the victims, first called her husband Bhimsen after the fire broke. The panic-stricken woman asked him to come home as quickly as possible. Bhagya Rekha and her mother were burnt alive before Bhimsen arrived. The firefighters were already on the scene trying to put out the fire before Bhimsen had arrived.

The post-mortem examination on the bodies of the two women was conducted at St. John's Hospital.

Meanwhile, Bhimsen Rao and his son-in-law Sandeep complained to the police that the house was completely gutted.

Speaking about the incident, the general secretary of the apartment association said that they tried their best to save the lives of the two women, but in vain. "We managed to save their grandson. The house owner who had gone to work came later. The two women and the boy were at home when the fire started," he said.

Bommanahalli Zone Joint Commissioner Ramakrishna said, "Two plots were damaged in the fire. No damage was done to the two cylinders in the house. What sparked the fire is yet to be ascertained. There are 72 flats in the apartment."