Fire breaks out at Bengaluru bar, five employees killed
Five employees of the Kailash Bar and Restaurant in Bengaluru's Kalasipalya died when a fire broke out. Locals alerted the authorities at 2:30am that smoke was billowing out of the bar in the Kumbaara Sangha building. The cause of the fire is still unknown. The owner is incommunicado. This comes days after a blaze in a restaurant in Mumbai's Kamala Mills killed 14.
Owner switches off phone, cops launch a hunt
Three fire engines were rushed to the spot after the authorities were alerted, but couldn't save the sleeping employees. The victims have been identified as Mahesh (35), Swami (23) and Prasad (20) from Tumakuru, Manjunath (45) from Hassan, and Keerthi (24) from Mandya. Cops informed the owner at 4am, asking him to arrive soon, but since then his phone has remained switched off.
Visuals from the spot
Series of blazes in Mumbai, most due to norms' violation
The Kamala Mills tragedy threw light on the blatant violation of fire safety norms; analyzes noted that most recent blazes in Mumbai were because of flouting of rules. Guidelines weren't followed at RK Studios, a shop at Saki Naka was illegally constructed, the fire-fighting system at La Mer was defunct, and combustible material was found at the Berhampada slums, all sites of major fires.
In Delhi, 400 of 5,000 restaurants have fire safety clearance
The situation is similar in Delhi: only 400 of the 5,000 restaurants in the capital have requisite fire safety clearance. Owing to low frequency of and lack of diligence in physical fire safety checks, most restaurateurs get away with gross violations, said fire officers.
