In the early hours of Saturday, a catastrophic fire broke out at a plastic mat manufacturing unit in Bengaluru’s Nagarathpet area, resulting in the death of five people. The victims included a family of four—Madan Kumar (38), his wife Sangeetha (33), and their two young sons, Nitish (7) and Vihan (5)—along with a 26-year-old neighbour, Suresh Kumar, who was also trapped in the inferno.
Officials said the fire control room received an emergency alert around 3:15 am, following which five fire tenders were rushed to the site. Firefighters battled for hours to contain the blaze. Authorities have yet to confirm whether the bodies will undergo post-mortem examinations.
This devastating incident comes a day after another fire-related tragedy in Bengaluru’s Wilson Garden. In Sriram Colony, Chinnayanapalya, a suspected LPG cylinder blast inside a residence caused the death of an eight-year-old boy named Mubarak and left several others injured.
Among those wounded were Kasturamma (35), Sarasamma (50), Shabeerana Banu (35), Subramani (62), Sheikh Najeed Ullah (37), and an eight-year-old girl, Fatima. They were immediately taken to hospital for treatment. The intensity of the blast severely damaged the house and nearby structures, prompting authorities to launch an investigation into the exact cause.
The back-to-back accidents have once again highlighted the urgent need for stricter safety measures and checks on hazardous units and residential gas usage in densely populated neighbourhoods of Bengaluru.