Probe ordered into Kochi fire

KOCHI, JAN 8: The district administration has ordered an inquiry into the devastating fire at Broadway in which eight commercial establish...

KOCHI, JAN 8: The district administration has ordered an inquiry into the devastating fire at Broadway in which eight commercial establishments, a paper godown and an office were destroyed.

Fort Kochi sub-collector K Sasidhar Sreenivas will conduct the inquiry into the incident which occurred in the century-old building early on Friday. The damage was estimated to be around Rs 5 crore. No casualties have been reported. The fire, which was reported by a security guard, was first sighted at St Francis De Sales Press. It soon spread to neighbouring shops engulfing the goods in leaping flames, which were brought under control after a four-hour fight by the Fire Force.

Apart from its city force, the Fire Force summoned tenders from neighbouring Perumbavoor, Alwaye, Mattancherry and, among others, the Indian Navy and Cochin Port Trust.

Police, under City Police Commissioner B S Mohammed Yasin and Assistant Commissioner Thomas Philip, cordoned off the area to facilitate fire- fighting.

The century-oldbuilding which contained shops also posed a hurdle in fighting the flames. The fire did not spread to more shops as one of the shops, S Koder8217;, had concrete walls and roofing. The security staff of the State Bank of India branch also chipped in by providing water to the Fire Force.

Many theories about what caused the fire, termed as the worst fire mishap in the city, are doing the rounds. Office-bearers of various merchants8217; unions suspect the involvement of burglars behind the incident.

8220;Thieves, after breaking into the shops, set waste paper afire for rummaging through the shop8230; They normally abandon these make-shift torches and burning candles8230; This can be a causative factor,8221; a businessman said. He said police had registered a case of theft at a shop on Market Road, near the site.

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The authorities are also not ruling out the possibility of a short-circuit behind the mishap. In fact, District Collector K R Viswambharan, while chairing a review meeting later in the day, urged the businesscommunity to scrutinise electrical wiring on their premises.

A separate committee, under Mayor K K Somasundara Panicker, has also been formed to suggest guidelines for rehabilitating the affected merchants.A Naval employee who was injured in fire-fighting was administered first aid at the Medical Trust Hospital.