Bengaluru, 13 May

A massive fire broke out early Tuesday morning at an oil storage godown leased to Shell Oil and Gas Company in Adakamaranahalli on the outskirts of the city, destroying Rs 30 crore worth oil stocks.

Officials said the fire suspected to have been triggered due to a short circuit, gutted a 33,000 sq ft facility owned by a person Krishnappa, son-in-law of former minister HC Srikantaiah, and had been rented out to Shell.

Locals said, the blaze was first noticed around 3am at the facility, and within minutes, the fire engulfed the entire godown where large quantities of oil were stockpiled in anticipation of supply disruptions due to the on-going tensions between India and Pakistan.

The fire in the large godown triggered panic in the area, as the oil fed red blaze spread and thick smoke billowed into the morning summer sky. Locals feared that the conflagration would spread across the town.

The scale of the fire triggered a multi-agency response and more than 80 personnel and 12 fire tenders from Nelamangala, Peenya, and Yeshwanthpur rushed to the spot to tackle the inferno. It took 10 hours for the firefighters to completely douse the raging fire. Fortunately, no casualties were reported.

The Madanayakanahalli police have registered a case and further investigation is underway to ascertain the exact cause of fire and also to determine the extent of loss due to the incident.