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Fire in Hindustan Times building

Staff Reporter

Panic gripped the occupants as smoke filled up some of the floors

NEW DELHI: A minor fire broke out in Hindustan Times building on Kasturba Gandhi Road here on Tuesday evening. Though no one was injured, panic gripped the occupants as smoke filled up some of the floors. Many people working in the building had to be evacuated from the windows.

Mezzanine floor

According to the Delhi Fire Service, the fire broke out on the mezzanine floor at 6-05 p.m. It took 25 fire tenders more than 30 minutes to put out the blaze.

"Some abandoned printing press machinery on the mezzanine floor of the building was being cut using gas cutters when the sparks flew and a rubber roller caught fire. Soon it engulfed the air conditioner duct and smoke filled the first floor of the building. It was a minor fire. However, 25 fire tenders were pressed into service keeping in view that it was a high-rise building. No one was injured," said Chief Fire Officer R.C. Sharma.

As soon as the fire broke out, passers-by gathered outside the building and hurled stones and bricks breaking the windowpanes and tossed water to douse the flames, said an eyewitness, Gaurav Gupta, who works with Manoj Aneja Associates in the adjoining Ansal Bhavan.

"We pulled an emergency staircase near a window on the first floor of the building and helped a couple of persons to come out. Then we went inside the building and guided many to safety. The building was filled with smoke and it was very suffocating inside," said Tara Chand, an electrician with Star Estates Management Limited, who along with his colleagues helped in evacuating the occupants of the building.

Editorial sections

The building houses the news desk, pagination and editorial sections of both Hindustan Times and Hindustan. The employees of these newspapers rushed out of the building as soon as the fire broke out. The functioning of the organisation was also disrupted as the power supply was cut off as a precautionary measure. Later in the evening, the supply was restored partially to allow publication of the newspapers.

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