Date:14/05/2005 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2005/05/14/stories/2005051416180300.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

Five houses destroyed in fire

Staff Reporter

BANGALORE: Five houses were destroyed in a fire at a plastic and rubber goods godown on Mysore Road in Byatarayanapura police station limits on Friday.

The police said the fire that broke out around 10 a.m. at the godown at Shamanna Garden at Hosaguddadahalli spread to five neighbouring houses. While women and children ran out of the houses, household articles were gutted. The asbestos roofs of a few more houses were damaged.

However, no one was injured in the incident.

Of the five houses that were destroyed, three belonged to Sheik Amanullah, Zameer, and Firoze.

The other houses were locked when the incident took place, the police said.

Plastic articles, rubber used for footwear soles and foam were stored in the godown. The cause of the fire is not known. Seven fire tenders took more than an hour to put out the fire. The entire area was engulfed in thick smoke.

The residents of Shamanna Garden said they had objected to the setting up of the godown in the area which has narrow lanes and is dotted with small houses. The Byatarayanapura police have registered a case.