Bravehearts rescue five from burning building

Bangalore, November 3: Two women and three children from an Indiranagar family were rescued on Friday from a burning building by alert neighbours. Among the rescued was an eightmonth-old toddler. Around 3.15pm, a worker at Rishi medical shop off CMH Road noticed flames leaping out of a house located across the road. The house was on the second floor of a three-storey building, which had a retail chain shop on the ground floor and a vacant office space on the first.

The druggist, who didn't want to be named, rushed out of his shop, screaming "fire, fire" . The fire reportedly started on the first floor and spread to the second.

As per the call records of the fire department, Pradeep , a passerby, made a call around 3.25pm. "I saw the fire and learnt about some people trapped in the house. I called 101," Pradeep, who identified himself as a businessman and declined to reveal his second name.

The fire sent a thick black smoke into the sky. The druggist and passersby feared for those stuck in the smoke-filled house. With stones, they broke the building's glass facade and let the smoke out. The two women and three children, meanwhile , ran up to the terrace.

With the help of a ladder that was put across to the next building, the women passed on their kids to bravehearts , and they rushed down the stairs to safety.

A sub-inspector of police from the Indiranagar station patrolling the area rushed to the building on fire and drew up a rescue plan. Two women and three children trapped in the burning house were rescued in the nick of time. As part of the rescue plan, G Y Giriraj, sub-inspector , and seven others went to the terrace of the adjacent Clinical Research Institute of India building.

They placed a wooden ladder across the 10-foot-wide gap between the two buildings.

Among the rescuers were Kailash Mondol and Vinodh, security guards of former JD(S) MLA NR Suryanarayana Reddy. The duo was staying at New Shanti Sagar Lodge opposite the building on fire.

Said Vinodh: "We, too, went up to the terrace. A do-gooder provided a ladder. The trapped women handed over the kids to us and they rushed down the stairs to safety."

The two women and three children were treated for minor injuries at a hospital. The two women — Kusum, and Kesar — were daughters-in-law of Mahaveer Chand, the head of the family and building owner. The three children are Chand's grandchildren.

The fire was noticed around 3.15pm. Initially, smoke started coming out of the first floor of the building and people started shouting. Those who were inside the Reliance Fresh store came out. When the public started breaking windows, flames leapt out of the building. Some men then went up to the terrace of the adjacent building and rescued children trapped in the top-floor house.