Bangalore’s towering inferno: 9 die, 60 hurt

At least nine people, including three women, died and 59 injured when a fire broke out in a seven-storey building in Bangalore on Tuesday. People panicked and jumped from the higher floors of Carlton Towers after the fire started on the third floor and moved up-wards. Salil Mekaad reports.

At least nine people, including three women, died and 59 injured when a fire broke out in a seven-storey building in Bangalore on Tuesday.

People panicked and jumped from the higher floors of Carlton Towers after the fire started on the third floor and moved up-wards. In an eerie reminder of 9/11, TV cameras captured live footage of people jumping out.

HT Image

“Around six people jumped and one died,” a fire department official said. The offices of several software companies are located in Carlton Towers, on the busy Old Airport Road.

The fire started around 4.30 pm, trapping more than 100 people inside, officials said. It was brought under control nearly two hours later.

“The smoke was unbearable,” Kiran Jonnalagadda (30), a techie, who was stuck in the building, told HT. As Jonnalag-adda waited to be rescued, he went online and tweeted messages and pictures.

“Rescuers evacuated over 150 persons,” Bangalore fire chief BG Chengappa said. Nineteen of the injured are critical.
“The fire began in a lift service cable on the second floor,” Chief Fire Officer NU Erappa told PTI.