The owners of the ill-fated building in Thana Road that caught fire on Saturday are still in the dark as to how the incident began.
Owner Amit Singhania told reporters today that his brother had been in the building when the fire suddenly began and his only thought was to get everyone inside the building to safety.
However, one staff member was unable to escape and died in the incident. Singhania said that it appears as if he died of smoke inhalation as there were no burns on his body. The wall at the rear of the building had to be broken down to get him out as both entrances were impassable due to the flames.
The building’s ground floor was used for commercial purposes while the upper floors were residential. Singhania himself has lived there all his 50 years. The family will have to demolish the front portion of the building, which is the oldest and most affected by the fire, once investigations are over.
Singhania also praised the work of the fire fighters, saying it would have been a total disaster without their bravery. However, he did request the general public to be more cooperative with the emergency services as the fire brigade was delayed by half an hour due to the congestion of Police Bazar and the slowness of people to get out of the way. “Please don’t play with the lives of people,” he appealed.
