Residents wake up to smoky morning

Raghavan R, a businessman whose shop is a street away from the Chennai Silks outlet, recalled seeing smoke, when he went to open his store. “The firefighters were already there and there was a small fire in the basement. We thought that it would soon be extinguished and the shop would open for business as usual. However, by 10 am, the fire had spread to the fourth floor and by noon, the entire building was ablaze. We saw firefighting personnel come in and try to contain the fire,” said the 59-year-old businessman. 

Ram, an employee of another retail outlet in the city, lives just opposite the ill-fated building. “We heard about the incident only in the morning, when there were a lot of people gathered there and smoke was billowing out from the edifice. Only after the fire has died down, we will know the extent of the damage. Since the news was out, all the outlets near the vicinity remained shut for the day,” he said. 

The busy streets of T-Nagar were deserted as many shops remained shut and the smoke kept away hordes of shoppers. The smoke, which kept billowing out, kept attracting onlookers, who were trying to get a picture of the fire and even took selfies with the burning building in the background, even as officials cordoned off the area.