In a women’s hostel in Madurai city, which is situated near the Periyar Bus Stand, two teachers succumbed to suffocation after a fire broke out due to a blast caused by a refrigerator in the two-storied hostel on Thursday, September 12, 2024.
Azhar police have reported the death of Parimala Soundari aged fifty years, who taught at the Government Middle School, in Sholavandan, and another teacher Saranya in a Private Catering Institution.
As per the police, a mini-refrigerator’s compressor inside Visaka Women’s Hostel at Katrapalayam exploded at around 4:30 in the morning.
Due to the very old structure and the surrounding areas, the hostel was located on the first and second floors of a narrow building which occupied the upper two floors.
Due to this blast all the inmates, who had been sleeping, were awakened and there was pandemonium as dense dark smoke engulfed the premises.
While many women escaped through the narrow but steep staircase aided by other women, some others were trapped in darkness.
Fire department and other rescue squad personnel that had arrived at the place from the Madurai Fire Station were able to control the fire and save the women who were stuck on the first and second floors of the building.
What eyewitnesses said
Fifty-four-year-old P. Santhi from Tindivanam has been staying in the hostel for the last 6 months. Apart from working women, the hostel was also occupied by a number of job seekers waiting for competitive exams, she said.
One other woman testified that she got out of the thick smoke by managing to reach an empty space on the terrace, from where she was saved by fire and rescue services.
Fire devastated wooden partitions, cupboards, furniture, books and other possessions of female inmates.
The two women who died also had exposed themselves to the flames for too long in the hostel in the other room, the rescuers found too late. They found unconscious two women in the hostel and brought them to the private hospital where doctors declared them brought dead.
The hostel warden, 66, J. Pushpa of Palanganatham, has 3rd degree burns on her face, chest and hand.
Two other people, K. Janani 17 years old and a disturbing student of nursing from Melur and, M. Kani aged 65 from Karaikudi suffering from breathless also got admitted to a private hospital.
The hostel residents, who were saved, were placed in the hall which was located close-by.
Building was issued notice, say authorities
Tideer Nagar police are probing the concerned incident. Corporator of Madurai Corporation- Dinshaw Kumar C. and Revenue Divisional Officer (Madurai) Dr. R. D. Shalini were some of the spectators at the site of the incident, which took place on Thursday in the afternoon.
Corporation staff maintain that October 2023 tabled a notice against the two-storey structure. However, the said property owner had obtained an injunction against the action of the Corporation.
The building owner, however, S. Dhinkaran stated that a tenant by the name of Inba Jegadeesan rented out the property to set up a hospital only to convert the first floors and the second floors into a hostel facility.
He says a court case to remove the tenant has been in progress.
