The government announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the next of kin of the twelve people who lost their lives in a fire that broke out at a firecracker godown-cum-shop in Attibele in Anekal taluk on Saturday. The shop owner was among those who sustained burn injuries. However, one of them who received serious burn injuries has been referred to another hospital, police said.
The incident occurred around 3.30 pm while unloading firecracker cartons from a transport vehicle, police said, adding firefighters are at the spot conducting a search operation to ascertain if there are more bodies. "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," said Superintendent of Police (Bengaluru Rural) Mallikarjun Baladandi.
"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, police said.
DK Shivakumar visits fire site
Later, the state government announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the kin of the deceased. The Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka visited the site. Taking to social media platform X, he wrote, "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."
(With inputs from PTI)
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