9 killed in fire at Bangalore's Carlton Towers

Nine persons have died in a major fire broke out today on the seventh floor of Carlton Towers, a business centre housing several offices and commercial establishments.

Some casualties apparently occured when a few people jumped out of the building in panic, eyewitnesses said.

TV visuals showed one girl clad in a blue slawar kameez landing on the roof of the portico after jumping from the sixth floor and then falling over to the ground. Her condition was not immediately known.

The multi-storey building located on the busy Old Airport Road in Domlur area was completely evacuated and the fire brought under control nearly two hours after it broke out, officials said.

Scores of persons fainted after inhaling the smoke and had to be rushed to nearby hospital for first aid, a senior fire official said.

The fire which broke out in an office on the seventh floor at 4.30pm has been brought under control and extinguished, chief fire officer N U Erappa told PTI after the fire fighting operations.

Nearly 15 fire tenders including two rescue vehicles were pressed into service.

The blaze, suspected to have been triggered by a short circuit, created panic with several inside the building shouting for help and many others breaking the window panes.

Passersby also rushed to help those trapped.

The fire, that occurred at the start of the peak hour, caused a huge traffic jam on a two kms stretch.