<p>Five people were burnt to death in an accidental fire that broke out in a five-storey building, which acted as a garment warehouse, at Karni Galli here in the early hours of Wednesday.<br /><br />The cloth store – Swami Collection – is said to have caught fire after an electrical short circuit around 4:30 am. It took about 10 hours for firefighters to bring the blaze under control and recover the charred bodies of five persons, including a woman, who lived in the same building.<br /><br />As many as 30 fire tenders from Athani, Chikodi and Jamkhandi battled the fire before it could be contained. <br /><br />Eye-witnesses and fire brigade authorities said that since it was early morning, residents failed to notice the fire which engulfed all the five floors within minutes. By the time the fire spread to the room which stocked clothes, it was too late for those trapped in it.<br /><br />“Their cries for help couldn’t be heard since the incident occurred before sunrise when most residents were fast asleep,” a fireman said as he tried to extinguish the smouldering fire in a third-floor room.<br /><br />But some residents rushed to the spot after they heard loud explosions set off by exploding LPG cylinders. Fire brigade personnel suspect there were four cylinders on different floors of the building.<br /><br />“Flames went up skyward and thick, black smoke billowed from the rooms on all the floors when some fire tenders arrived.<br /><br />The residents tried to help douse the flames using water brought in whatever utensils they could lay their hands on,” a fire fighter said.<br /><br />Later in the afternoon after the fire was contained, firefighting personnel gained entry into the building by breaking open the doors, and recovered the bodies of shop proprietor Mrutunjaya Hiremath (43) and his wife Laxmi (37). A little later, the bodies of Channabasava Bychal (28), Girish Nirwanimath (25) and Ajit (33) were recovered.<br /><br />Another person identified as Vinayak Badiger was feared missing, and it was not known whether he too had fallen victim to the accident or managed to come out of the building.<br /><br />Swami Collection, a wholesale cloth store containing clothing in huge quantity, catered to the demands of most of the villages surrounding Athani town. <br /><br />Additional Director General of Police R K Datta and Superintendent of Police Sandeep Patil supervised the firefighting operations.</p>
<p>Five people were burnt to death in an accidental fire that broke out in a five-storey building, which acted as a garment warehouse, at Karni Galli here in the early hours of Wednesday.<br /><br />The cloth store – Swami Collection – is said to have caught fire after an electrical short circuit around 4:30 am. It took about 10 hours for firefighters to bring the blaze under control and recover the charred bodies of five persons, including a woman, who lived in the same building.<br /><br />As many as 30 fire tenders from Athani, Chikodi and Jamkhandi battled the fire before it could be contained. <br /><br />Eye-witnesses and fire brigade authorities said that since it was early morning, residents failed to notice the fire which engulfed all the five floors within minutes. By the time the fire spread to the room which stocked clothes, it was too late for those trapped in it.<br /><br />“Their cries for help couldn’t be heard since the incident occurred before sunrise when most residents were fast asleep,” a fireman said as he tried to extinguish the smouldering fire in a third-floor room.<br /><br />But some residents rushed to the spot after they heard loud explosions set off by exploding LPG cylinders. Fire brigade personnel suspect there were four cylinders on different floors of the building.<br /><br />“Flames went up skyward and thick, black smoke billowed from the rooms on all the floors when some fire tenders arrived.<br /><br />The residents tried to help douse the flames using water brought in whatever utensils they could lay their hands on,” a fire fighter said.<br /><br />Later in the afternoon after the fire was contained, firefighting personnel gained entry into the building by breaking open the doors, and recovered the bodies of shop proprietor Mrutunjaya Hiremath (43) and his wife Laxmi (37). A little later, the bodies of Channabasava Bychal (28), Girish Nirwanimath (25) and Ajit (33) were recovered.<br /><br />Another person identified as Vinayak Badiger was feared missing, and it was not known whether he too had fallen victim to the accident or managed to come out of the building.<br /><br />Swami Collection, a wholesale cloth store containing clothing in huge quantity, catered to the demands of most of the villages surrounding Athani town. <br /><br />Additional Director General of Police R K Datta and Superintendent of Police Sandeep Patil supervised the firefighting operations.</p>
