Major Fire at Bangalore’s Carlton Towers; Five Feared Killed, Many Trapped

Nearly five people have been feared killed in a major fire that broke out in Bangalore’s Carlton Towers, which houses many commercial offices and establishments, reported the Times of India, adding that the building on Old Airport Road at Domlur had been evacuated.

Report said quoting sources that eight fire tenders were rushed to the spot to quench fire which started at 4.30 pm.

Karnataka IG P S Sandhu said that the fire broke out because of an electric short-circuit, said report.

According to eyewitnesses, rescue squad was bringing down people using fire hoses down the sides but the fire department has not been able to assess how serious the fire is, said report.

To let out the smoke, people broke open window panes using bare hands or anything they could lay hands on, while dozens of office-goers were seen coughing as they were caught in the smoke, report said.

A crowd of hundreds of people assembled on the busy street obstructing the free movement of fire brigade vehicles and fire personnel, said report.

Police said that a few people jumped out of the building and suffered minor injuries, report said.

However, a large number of people are stuck in the building one of whom tweeted:

“Carlton Towers is burning and six of us are trapped inside. The fire’s above but there’s smoke everywhere. Saw people jump to their death.”

“Don’t call me folks, you can’t help. Will keep posting.”

“Our rescue ladder. It’ll only reach the fourth floor. We’re on the fifth.”

“Massive crowd outside. This must have choked traffic for kilometers around.”

Many users write in about the massive crowd near the place, which is causing traffic blockage. Tweetizens are also posting latest pictures of the happenings in the building.

The Twitteratti doing their bit by telling people the actual on-goings to avoid false rumours.

People are also warning the others to not to come on that road to avoid the chaos; one user enquires, “We are 20 minutes from Carlton Towers Bangalore. Which is on fire. Hope Things are not as bad as it seems to me”