Eight students injured in hostel building fire in Kota

The building had 75 rooms of which 61 were occupied, SP Duhan said. (representative image)

A massive fire broke out on Sunday morning in a boys’ hostel building injuring eight students here with preliminary reports suggesting that the short circuit led to the blaze, police said. The incident happened at around 6.15 am in Landmark City under Kunhari police station, Superintendent of Police (SP) Kota City Amrita Duhan said.

According to an initial investigation, a short circuit in an electric transformer installed on the ground floor of the five-storey hostel building led to the fire, the police said. The forensic team, however, is trying to ascertain the exact reason for the incident. Rakesh Vyas, a fire officer at Kota Municipal Corporation, said the hostel building was not equipped with fire safety measures and did not have a fire NOC. He added that it was alarming that the transformer was installed inside the hostel building.

The police said the six injured students, including one who sustained severe burns, are receiving primary medical treatment at Maharao Bheem Singh (MBS) Hospital here. One student, who suffered a fracture in his leg after he along with 14 others jumped from the building’s first floor to escape the fire, is being treated at a private hospital, they added.

Bhavishya, a NEET aspirant from Bihar’s Chindwara who lived in the building, was also injured in the incident. He said he was woken up by a loud noise at around 6.15 am and when he came out of his room, he found thick smoke everywhere. He said the students decided to jump from the first floor as the staircase was filled with smoke and there was no other way out of the building.

The building had 75 rooms of which 61 were occupied, SP Duhan said. She added that fire tenders rushed to the spot in time and doused the fire before it could spread to the upper floors. All the students have been rescued from the building, circle inspector at Kunhari police station Arvind Bhardwaj said. The parents of the students are being contacted to assure them that their wards are safe, he added.

Bhardwaj said that as most students couldn’t carry their mobile phones while they were being rescued, a helpdesk is also being set up for the students and their parents. The matter is being investigated, the CI said.