Major fire at Biocon subsidiary in Bommasandra

A major fire broke out at Syngene International Limited (SIL), the contract research subsidiary of Biocon, at Bommasandra Industrial Estate on the Bommasandra-Jigani link road on Monday night. Eight fire tenders with about 120 firemen took about two hours to douse the firey. No one was injured in the mishap.

The total worth of the property destroyed is yet to be estimated, while the cause is yet to be ascertained. Preliminary investigation indicates that short circuit may have triggered the blaze. The SIL authorities are yet to lodge a complaint, police said.

The fire broke out at around 7.50 pm, behind the three-storey laboratory where a large quantity of solvents, chemicals and fibre materials was stored. Thick smoke started billowing from the materials. The fire rapidly spread to the first and second floors.

There were only a few guards as all employees had gone home. Upon noticing the flames, the guards called up the fire control room and informed them about the mishap.

“We received the alert at 8 pm and rushed eight fire tenders. A team of 120 firemen and senior officers extinguished the fire by 10 pm. Soumendu Mukherjee, IGP (Fire), monitored the operation,” DIG (Fire) H S Revanna told DH.