Four dead, five injured in Chennai apartment fire

A pall of gloom descended on South Permual Koil street as four of a family including 2 children were suffocated to death by thick fumes from a fire that broke out from the ground floor of an apartment complex in Vadapalani, on Monday. 

Twelve others who were also the inmates suffered serious breathing difficulties, and some suffered burns too.

The deceased were living in the first floor, and were directly exposed to the fumes since they had left the windows open to beat the sultry weather. 

The life-less bodies of Meenakshi, (60), her daughter Selvi, (45), and her great-grandchildren Sandhiya, (10), and Sanjay, (3) were moved to the Kilpauk Medical College Hospital (KMCH).

At 4.54 am, the TNFRS control received the first distress call from the residents of the building, and the first rescue unit was dispatched. The fire which started from the power junction raged and spread to as many as 21 bikes belonging to the tenants parked in the ground floor, and nearby printing press.

TNFRS personnel led by Divisional Officer (South Chennai) Vijayakumar, Station Fire Officers A Fatheeh (Rajbhavan) and E Balasubramani(Teynampet) doused the fire under 20 minutes after arriving at the spot at 5.05 am. The team also rescued 3 persons using the ladder from the II floor of the building.

The complex, is a four-storey building, comprising 28 residential portions and a couple of commercial establishment including a printing press that was damaged in the fire, was, in fact, built encroaching upon the government poromboke land, in 2002. was sealed by the Corporation of Chennai(CoC) last year and owned by a local AIADMK politico, 

The Civic body had sealed the building, without evicting a single tenant from there, upon a direction from the Madras High Court in a PIL. The matter pertaining to the violations was said to be pending before a Court here. It is learnt that the CMDA, in its letter dated June 17, 2013, had written to the CoC citing the irregularities, and to necessitate action.