MADURAI: A day after a fire, which broke out in a portion of the LIC office building located opposite the railway junction in Madurai on Wednesday night, Minister for Information Technology and Digital Services Palanivel Thiaga Rajan, and Collector KJ Praveen Kumar, inspected the damaged office. The forensic team also examined the site to investigate the cause of the fire, sources said.

The deadly fire, which occurred in the air-conditioned hall on the second floor of the building, claimed life of a woman employee while she was at work.

Kalyani Nambi (55), senior manager of the branch, succumbed to her burns. Her colleague Ram (32), the other fire victim, suffered burns to 30 per cent of his body. The firefighters recovered the charred body of the senior manager after bringing the blaze under control. The injured victim was rescued and rushed to Government Rajaji Hospital, Madurai and later referred to a private hospital here.

District Fire Officer T Venkatramanan said the blaze was contained by 30 firefighters. It was doused by four fire tenders in about an hour.

While a contingent of firefighters broke glass windows of the building at one side before entering the office hall under a false ceiling, the rest of them managed to put out the flames with the aid of a portable smoke extractor, the District Fire Officer said.