Chennai Silks Building in T Nagar Partially Collapses Day After Big Blaze

Chennai: A Chennai Silks showroom in T Nagar area of the city partially collapsed early on Thursday, more than 24 hours after the multi-storied building caught fire.

Floors 2 through 7 collapsed at 3:19am following which additional fire tenders, ambulances and rescue teams were rushed to the spot.

A FIR has been registered in the case which terms it an accident. The FIR was filed by Chennai Silks manager Ravindran, sources told CNN-News18.

Firefighters were still struggling to douse the flames at 9:15pm on Wednesday. Thick smoke continued to billow out of the building, leading to eye irritation and breathing trouble among nearby residence.

As the area was declared dangerous, other nearby shops were asked to down their shutters, IANS reported.

According to the police, the fire at the Chennai Silks showroom was noticed around 5 am on Wednesday and fire tenders were rushed to the spot.

The cause of the fire was said to be an electric short circuit.

Narrow roads and the absence of easy approach hindered the fire service personnel's efforts to put out the flames early.

After battling the fire for several hours, the fire department officials decided to break open some walls with the twin objective of dousing the fire with water and also allow smoke to escape as it prevented the fire fighters from entering the building.

The stock-in-trade in the textile showroom is estimated to be worth several crore.

Speaking to reporters, state Finance Minister D Jayakumar said the owners of Chennai Silks will have to bear the expenses incurred in dousing the fire.

He said necessary action would be taken if there were any violation of building norms.

PMK founder S Ramadoss in a statement said the violation of building norms was the main reason for the fire raging on long. Ramadoss said the fire-hit building has permission only for four floors but eight floors have been constructed.

He said the 2008 fire accident in Saravana Stores — another big showroom in T Nagar locality — was also due to violation of building norms and demanded that the buildings that violate building norms be demolished.