Bengaluru fire broke out in Kailash bar and restaurant and killed 5 people.
Bengaluru fire at Kailash Bar and Restaurant in Kalasipalyam area killed five employees who were sleeping inside the restaurant when the fire broke out around 2:30 am on Monday. Police said an electrical short-circuit probably caused the fire and primary investigation suggests that suffocation led to the death of the victims. Their charred bodies have been taken for post-mortem in city's Victoria Hospital. The incident comes a little over a week after a deadly fire killed 14 people including 11 women at a popular nightspot in Mumbai's Kamala Mills compound. The Kamala Mills fire raised questions about fire safety norms in pubs and restaurants, triggering safety checks in Mumbai and other cities.
Here's all you need to know about Bengaluru fire:
1. Kailash Bar and Restaurant, where the fire broke out, is located in the ground floor of Kumbaara Sangha building in Kalasipalyam's vegetable market area in Bengaluru.
2. Passersby noticed the smoke coming out from the building around 2:30 am on Monday and alerted the fire services.
3. Two fire tenders and one fire rescue vehicle doused the fire in Bengaluru restaurant, but the bar was was almost completely charred before the fire was brought under control.
4. Five people, including a woman, died in the fire. All the victims were employees who were sleeping at the premises. They have been identified as three Tumakuru residents - 23-year-old Swami, 20-year-old Prasad and Mahesh, 45-year-old Manjunath from Hassan and 24-year-old Keerthi from Mandya.
5. Police in Bangalore have registered a case of criminal negligence amounting to culpable homicide against the owner of the bar, Bengaluru Deputy Commissioner of Police MN Anucheth said.
6. The mayor of the city, which is known for its lively pubs and bars, said he had ordered an inquiry into why the victims were sleeping at the premises.
7. Police officer MN Anucheth told NDTV that the police is assessing the building and interrogating witnesses to draw a complete and correct picture of the Bengaluru fire in Kailash bar.
8. In December, 14 people were killed in a fire at a rooftop restaurant in Mumbai, many of them young women at a birthday party.
9. The Mumbai fire and Bengaluru fire incidents have raised concerns over lax enforcement of safety rules. Such disasters are particularly frequent in Mumbai.
10. Activists say builders and landlords often cut corners on safety to save costs and have accused civic authorities of negligence and apathy.
(With inputs from agencies)