9 sustain burn injuries as fire breaks out in Bengaluru corporation office; CM orders inquiry
Bengaluru (PTI): Nine people sustained serious burn injuries when a fire broke out in the Quality Control Division of the Bengaluru civic agency on Friday.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said he has ordered an inquiry into the incident and an FIR has been registered.
Tushar Giri Nath, chief commissioner, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP)told reporters that the incident took place between 5 pm and 5.30 pm.
"I was in the office, there was a power failure. Then I learnt that a fire broke out in a building behind our office. When I went there, I saw a massive fire raging from the building. The incident caused major loss. Those working around there were injured. They were rushed to hospital," he said.
The injured were rushed to Saint Martha's Hospital in the vicinity for first aid and were subsequently shifted to the burns ward of the Victoria Government Hospital.
Nath said nine engineers, including the chief engineer, have sustained injuries. He however, declined to explain about their health condition.
To a query about the damage to materials, the BBMP chief said it will be known later.
"We are not focusing on what is burnt there. It will be known later," he said.
The incident occurred days after the Congress-led state government ordered a judicial inquiry into the alleged irregularities that took place in the BBMP during the previous the BJP government.
Apart from the judicial probe, Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, who holds the Bengaluru Development portfolio, formed four panels headed by IAS officers to investigate the alleged irregularities in the civic agency.
Siddaramaiah along with his deputy and Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy visited Victoria Hospital and enquired about the health condition of the injured.
Later speaking to reporters, he said he has ordered Nath to investigate how and why the incident happened. He said the injured have sustained injuries on their faces and hands.
Doctors, according to the chief minister, have said that the injured have got over 30 per cent burn wounds. He said he is hopeful that they would recover.
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US VP JD Vance says Lebanon not part of ceasefire, calls it ‘misunderstanding’
Budapest/Washington: US Vice President J D Vance has said that Lebanon was never included in the ceasefire understanding with Iran, describing the confusion as a “legitimate misunderstanding”.
Speaking to reporters before departing from Hungary, Vance said, “I think the Iranians thought that the ceasefire included Lebanon and it just didn’t. We never made that promise.”
He stressed that the United States had not included Lebanon in the scope of the ceasefire at any stage.
His remarks come amid continued Israeli strikes in Lebanon, where more than 200 people were reported killed, even as ceasefire talks between Iran and the US move forward.
Vance said Israel had “offered … to check themselves a little bit in Lebanon because they want to make sure that our negotiation is successful”.
He warned that if Iran allows the situation in Lebanon to affect the negotiations, it could derail the talks.
“If Iran wants to let this negotiation fall apart in a conflict where they were getting hammered over Lebanon, which has nothing to do with them and which the United States never once said was part of the ceasefire, that’s ultimately their choice,” he said.
