Fire breaks out at BSNL office in Kolkata, 15 fire engines present at spot

A major fire broke out at the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) office building at Salt lake City in Kolkata on Monday night, hours a massive fire broke out at the MTNL building in Mumbai’s Bandra. At least 15 fire engines have been pressed into service to douse the fire in West Bengal capital city.

There was no report of any employee being stuck up in any floor of the building, the police said. The fire started from the first floor of the 'G plus three storeyed' building near Tank No 13 of Salt Lake Sector III at about 7.00 PM, the officials said. State's Fire Services Minister Sujit Bose and senior officers of his department immediately rushed to the area to supervise the fire fighting operation. The fire was identified to have emanated from the server's room in the building, the sources said.

Earlier in the day, a massive fire broke out at MTNL building in Mumbai, leaving 84 people stranded on the terrace of the nine-storey structure all of whom were rescued by fire brigade personnel, an official said.

A firman, Sagar Salve (25), inhaled smoke during firefighting operation following which he was admitted to Bhabha Hospital, he said. The 25-year-old is stable and his condition is out of danger, he said.

A search was on to locate people who may have been trapped on the fire-affected third, fourth, fifth and other floors of the telephone exchange building in suburban Bandra, he said.

Armed with searchlights, other equipment and donning fire protection suits, fire brigade personnel searched these floors, the official said.

For the first-time, a newly-introduced robot, Robofire, was used to control the blaze, the official said. The blaze started at around 3 pm at the MTNL building, which incidentally, is located near a fire brigade centre in suburban Bandra.

As it was a working day, many persons, mostly employees of the state-run telecom firm, were present inside the building, he said.

As the fire started on the third and fourth floors, panic-stricken people started running out of the building. People who were on upper floors went to the terrace to save themselves, the official said.

All the 84 people stranded on the terrace were safely evacuated, he said.