None hurt in fire as power cuts force residents to sleep out

Home appliances worth lakhs got charred in the fire, which reportedly started from a hut around 3.45 and spread to the ones nearby.

The residents who spotted the fire immediately informed the Fire and Rescue Department around 4 am. A team led by officer E Mohammed Ayub reached the spot with three fire tenders from Triplicane, Teynampet and Mylapore and brought it under control. “It took close to two hours to put it off completely. No causalities were reported, but the huts were completely destroyed,” said the fire officer.

Most of the victims were fisherfolk who said that they have lost almost everything. “As we were asleep when the fire broke out, we could not save our belongings. Had the fire personnel reached a little earlier, the loss would have come down,” said a resident. Mercy, whose front portion of the house, fishing net and other equipment were burnt in the accident, said she was not sure how the fire broke out. “There were frequent power cuts, but we were sleeping in the house. We woke up to cries of others and escaped unhurt,” she said. A senior police officer said they suspect a transformer erected close to a hut could have burst causing the fire.

Meanwhile, Mylapore MLA R Nataraj assured that the government would help the victims build new houses.