Massive fire breaks out in Bengaluru factory, 3 buildings gutted

Bengaluru: A large fire broke out early on Tuesday at an " illegal chemical factory" here, engulfing in flames three buildings in the neighourhood.

Three fire personnel involved in extinguishing the fire sustained burns. And it took nearly seven hours to contain the fire, according to the Deputy Commissioner of Police West division of Bengaluru police , Sanjeev Patil.

Rekha Chemicals, where fire broke out, reportedly stored around 2000 litres of sanitiser and other highly combustible chemicals in its premises.

Flames quickly ran wild gutting seven motor bikes, street light poles, causing damages valued at around Rs crore.

At 11 am Residents in the neighbourhood of Hosa Guddadahalli, near the Deepanjali Nagar Metro Station, called up the South Fire Station reporting fire in the facility.

As soon as fire emerged, employees at the facility , and an electrical parts manufacturing factory nearby were evacuated.

According to Patil, the Chemicals caught fire while one of the employees transferring chemicals from one barrel to the other using a pipe.

"While transferring chemical, the pipe slipped and fell on the ground as a result of this large quantity of chemical spread all over and meantime, sparks came out of the UPS kept in the premises which led to the fire," he said quoting the complaint.

Patil further added that prima facie investigations reveal that these chemicals were illegally stored in this premises. Neither the factory nor the owners had the required permissions to store these chemicals, a report says

The Fire and Emergency Services personnel rushed more than 15 fire engines to contain the fire.

By 11.45 am, the fire engines had reached the spot and began dousing the flames. "There have been no casualties as we know. We have been carrying out efforts to douse the flames since the last four hours," said Regional Fire Officer Ramesh, who was a part of the firefighting efforts.

While the South Fire Station's control room officials stated that the factory was located in close proximity to several residential buildings. Their primary task was to ensure that the fire did not spread to other buildings.

"We had to ensure that the fire did not spread to nearby buildings as the setbacks are very narrow. The building has been gutted completely. There's nothing left. The firefighting efforts are still going on. We will be able to determine the cause for the fire only after this is complete," RFO Ramesh had added.

The Bengaluru police has registered a case and investigations are on

IANS report with edits