Inferno in Kanpur market engulfs nearby structure, building evacuated
To douse the flames in the city’s biggest hosiery market, fire tenders have sprayed 2,000 rounds of water from different points.
Kanpur More than 40 hours after a massive fire broke out in Kanpur’s Basmandi area, the blaze managed to engulf the nearby Nafees Tower and Ajran Complex. To prevent any loss of life, police have evacuated all the people living in proximity. At the time of filing this report, three houses and four shops were cleared of people.
To douse the flames in the city’s biggest hosiery market, fire tenders have sprayed 2,000 rounds of water from different points. The fire was partially contained on Friday bit it rekindled around 2 am on Saturday and has been spreading since.
Authorities are now concerned over the possibility of the blaze spreading to the timber market, which is not far away. The fire department officials have said that the temperature remains high inside the buildings and strong air is fanning up the fire.
“The structures have become unsafe; the ceilings on ground floor and those above in AR tower are unstable while the pillars in Hamraz and Masood complexes have developed deep cracks,” said a fire official. In view of the situation, a team of the civil engineering department from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, has also been called in to assess structural safety.
After the fire broke out in Nafees Tower and Ajran Complex on Saturday noon, JCB machines were used to break open the front so that firemen could enter and douse the flames. Meanwhile, Army men took out documents, cash, and valuables from the SBI branch which was located on the third floor of Nafees Tower. The strong room of this branch had belongings of 100 bank customers. The step was taken as the flames had moved closer to the bank.
As for casualties, firemen who entered the AR tower found a body charred beyond recognition on the stair case of third floor. Joint CP Anand Prakash Tiwari said that DNA test would be carried out to determine the identity of the victim. As per speculations, the victim could be Gyan Chand, a worker missing from the tower.
Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav is expected to reach the Basmandi area to meet the affected people.
