Bengaluru, Aug 16 Two persons were charred to death in Nagarthpet, near the busy K.R. Market in Bengaluru, on Saturday.
Personnel from the Fire and Emergency Services have recovered two bodies from the site, while the operation is still underway to trace a woman and two children who were residing in a house on the fourth floor of the building.
The deceased have been identified as Suresh and 38-year-old Madan Singh.
Madan's family lived in the house located on the fourth floor of the commercial building.
Efforts are on to locate Madan's wife, 33-year-old Sangeetha, and their children, eight-year-old Mitesh and five-year-old Vihaan.
Police sources stated that their chances of survival are bleak.
Officials said that plastic materials stored in the godowns that caught fire are posing a major challenge to the rescue operation.
Bengaluru Police Commissioner Seemanth Kumar Singh visited and inspected the site of the tragedy.
Speaking to the media, he said the authorities received information about the incident at 3 a.m.
The police and Fire and Emergency Services personnel rushed to the spot and began operations immediately. The fire broke out in a godown on the ground floor and then spread to the entire building.
"Most people in the building managed to escape after the fire broke out, but one family was trapped. Two bodies have been retrieved from the site. The top floor is engulfed in fire and thick smoke, and authorities are struggling to enter. Personnel from the Fire and Emergency Services, the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL), and police rescue teams are on the job. There is a suspicion that more bodies may be inside the building," Commissioner Singh said.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the building houses godowns on the ground floor and the first two floors.
Local BJP MLA Uday Garudachar and Joint Police Commissioner (East) Vamshikrishna also visited the spot.
According to police, the fire erupted suddenly in the ground-floor godown before engulfing the entire building. The exact cause of the tragedy is yet to be ascertained. Initial findings suggest that the blaze began in a plastic mat godown.
About 18 fire tenders are being deployed to extinguish the blaze. However, due to narrow lanes, Fire and Emergency Services personnel and vehicles faced difficulties in reaching the spot. Three ambulances were also rushed to the area.
More details are awaited as rescue operations are still ongoing.
Former MLA and local Congress leader R.V. Devaraju, who visited the site earlier, had stated that one person was confirmed dead and three others were feared dead. An official statement in this regard is awaited from the police department.
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