Pune: Six people were charred to death when a fire broke out at a bakery in Pune early on Friday morning.
The incident occurred at ‘Bakes n Cakes’ situated in the city’s Kondhwa area. Fire brigade officials said in all probability, the blaze was caused by a short circuit.
The Pune police have detained three people, believed to be the proprietors of the bakery.
A fire brigade official said, “We received a call at the control room at around 4.45 a.m. following which three fire tenders were immediately rushed to the spot. Smoke was coming from below the bakery shutter and the shop was locked from outside.”
Even as the fire fighting team was trying to break the lock, the bakery owner reached the spot and opened the shutter.
He told the officials that workers were sleeping on the mezzanine floor, following which the fire brigade team climbed up to recover the bodies.
The labourers died within minutes due to asphyxiation caused by the smoke, said the official.
The police said all the victims hailed from Uttar Pradesh. The deceased were all in their 20s and have been identified as Irshad Khan (26), Shanu Ansari(22), Zakim and Fahim Ansari (both aged 24), Junaid Ansari (25) and Nishan Ansari (29).
“The bakery owner had locked his shop from outside as a result of which the employees could not rush out when fire broke out,” the Mayor of Pune, Prashant Jagtap said.
While a case has been registered at Kondhwa police station, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has ordered a separate probe into the incident to ascertain the exact cause of the fire.
In yet another incident a few hours later, a fire broke out at a carpet godown in Pune’s Bibwewadi area. However, no casualties were reported in this case.
