The 15 killed in the Lucknow building fire, most of whom were employees of Head Hopper Studios on the second floor, were trapped as the office allegedly had a biometric entry-exit system which stopped functioning, a friend of one of the victims alleged.
“Even the route to the roof was not accessible because the biometric system was not functioning,” claimed a friend of Sukhmani Singh, one of the victims.
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Aasif from Lucknow, who worked in the company and escaped the blaze by opening the window and climbing down a power cable, also said the biometric system stopped functioning but he and few others managed to get out before that.
“A few of us employees managed to leave using the staircase in the initial moments after the fire was detected. However, as the flames intensified and spread upwards, the stairway got filled with smoke,” he said.
Rescue personnel douse the flames at the site in Lucknow’s Aliganj on Monday. (Express photo by Vishal Srivastav)
Officials said the biometric claim is being ascertained.
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Lavpreet Kaur from Delhi, who is a QC designer at the company, was among those who escaped by climbing down the cable.
Speaking to The Indian Express from the KGMU Trauma Centre, where she is admitted for injuries, she said, “We were all working when the first broke out in the floors below. Suddenly, the power got cut off and we were plunged into darkness… We couldn’t see anything and there was smoke everywhere. Someone broke a window and a few of us managed to climb down a power cable dangling on the side.”
Rescue personnel had to make two big holes in an adjoining building to enter the structure that was engulfed in flames. (ANI)
A senior police official, however, said preliminary findings suggested that the fire broke out on the second floor of the building before spreading rapidly.
“From the information gathered so far, it appears that some of the victims, unable to find a safe way out, took shelter inside a washroom,” the officer said.
Officials said the exact cause remains under investigation. Police are also piecing together the sequence of events that unfolded in the crucial minutes after the fire broke out.
Rescue operation from adjacent building. (Express photo by- Vishal Srivasthava ) 
Rescue personnel douse the flames at the site in Lucknow’s Aliganj on Monday. (Express photo by Vishal Srivastav)
Rescue personnel had to make two big holes in an adjoining building to enter the structure that was engulfed in flames. (ANI)
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