Chennai

According to sources, chemicals caught fire due to temperature difference and spread to the entire lab. Some propellants and equipment that belonged to the Aerospace Department of the institution were destroyed in the fire, sources added. 

Though a short circuit was suspected to have caused the accident initially, fire service personnel inspected the lab after the fire was put out and found out that chemical substances, used as propellant, caught fire. It was first spotted around 7 am by security guards and fire engines stationed on the IIT campus rushed to the spot. As they could not control it, fire tenders from Guindy reached the spot immediately. 

After some time, another fire tender from Raj Bhavan was also pressed into the service. It took nearly an hour for the personnel to put out the fire, which had engulfed the entire 100 sq ft lab. But they managed to prevent it from spreading to nearby structures. 

An aerospace student told DT Next that the department has a cluster of labs located close to each other and it would have been a major tragedy had the fire was not doused in time. He added that the fire broke out in the experimental lab, where usually students would not be present in the morning hours. Kotturpuram inspector Vijayalakshmi visited the accident spot.

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