One critical, 3 injured after fire breaks out at Saravana Stores kitchen

The police said that the incident occurred at around 9.30 am, due to a leak in an LPG cylinder in the kitchen. The incident left one of the workers in  critical condition. ‘The workers were preparing lunch for the day when they turned on the cylinder, which caused the fire to spread in the open kitchen premises. The half-full cylinder had not been turned off properly the previous day, and as a result, on Tuesday morning when it was switched on, the accident took place’, said a fireman of Guindy station. ‘The kitchen is located opposite to the stores on the road and has a metal roof. The fire damaged the interiors and utensils kept in the kitchen. The workers, however, put out the fire with extinguishers. By the time the Fire and Rescue personnel arrived at the spot, the fire was nearly put out. The firemen doused the cylinder which was on fire, he added. The injured were identified as Murthy (17), Amit Sardar (20), Ibrahim Mohammed (19) and Ibrahim Ali (20). 

Of them, Murthy suffered at least 73 per cent burns and Sardar sustained 53 per cent burns, sources said. The other two workers have sustained minor injuries and are out of danger. An extended part of the open kitchen is also used for parking two-wheelers of staff and customers.   A number of policemen were put on guard in front of the gate that was cordoned off for media and the public. Vinayakam, an autorickshaw driver and a witness to the fire incident, said that the workers were preparing food for nearly 1,500 workers employed with the chain of retail stores. The open kitchen had four cylinders, and fortunately three were empty which reduced the impact of the accident. A Metropolitan Magistrate recorded the statements of the burn victims at the hospital.