Chennai Porur Fire:Ten fire tenders were sent in to extinguish the fire.
Highlights
- The fire broke out near the Sri Ramachandra Medical College around 2 pm
- The blaze may have spread due to dry grass catching fire
- A similar incident was reported near Bengaluru air show venue on Saturday
More than 150 cars were gutted this afternoon after a fire engulfed a parking lot on the outskirts of Chennai. The blaze may have spread due to dry grass catching fire, fanned by winds.
The fire broke out near the Sri Ramachandra Medical College around 2 pm. Ten fire tenders were sent in to extinguish the fire.
P Ponniah, Collector and District Magistrate of Kancheepuram, told NDTV: "Around 300 cars were parked here by the UTOO cabs and 187 of them were gutted in the fire. The land belongs to the city-based cab-hailing firm."
The cars were parked by the private company over the last one year, a fire official had earlier said.
The incident comes just a day after a similar fire gutted around 300 cars near the Bengaluru air show venue. Fortunately, no one was hurt.
The fire brigade and Rapid Action Force and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams doused the blaze in about 40 minutes after it was noticed around noon.
The Indian Air Force has ordered a Court of Inquiry into the cause of the fire.
Defence Minister Niramala Sitharaman visited the spot on Sunday.
Officials, who briefed Ms Sitharaman on Sunday, told her that the probable cause of the incident was fire from an overheated silencer of one of the parked cars and fanned by strong wings, it spread quickly.