THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Untoward incidents continued to haunt the city authorities during the President’s visit. A major fire that broke out in one of the buildings in a busy street of Chalai market caused panic among the people on Wednesday. Flames engulfed a two-storeyed building that acted as a godown of Plasto Agency located along the Attakulangara Bypass at the southern end of the Chalai market and owned by Jainudeen, a wholesale dealer of plastic utensils like disposable plates and cups. According to sources, the local residents saw thick fumes emanating from inside the godown, following which they alerted the Fire and Rescue Services. Panic spread instantly among the people in the neighbourhood as the godown was flanked by Chalai market on one side and Karimadom Colony on the other. As many as 14 fire-fighting units from the Thiruvananthapuram Fire and Rescue Services station at Chenkalchoola rushed to the spot in response to the emergency call. But they could not initiate proper rescue operations since the godown was locked from outside owing to the Ramzan holiday. They had to pump water into the building through the ventilation hole on the walls, which proved to be ineffective. Meanwhile, the locals also chipped in with their buckets of water, thereby preventing the fire from spreading to more areas. Finally, after about two hours, the Fire and Rescue officials succeeded in dousing the fire. The Fire and Rescue authorities said that an electrical short circuit might have sparked off the fire; however, they were yet to confirm it. They estimated the loss at around Rs 1.5 lakh. Minister for Transport and MLA from Thiruvananthapuram constituency V S Sivakumar and Mayor K Chandrika visited the spot and oversaw the fire-fighting operation.
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