Kolkata: A major fire broke out a little after midnight on Diwali at a luxury high-rise residential complex, close to Salt Lake’s Sector V area, allegedly after a firecracker — possibly an aerial shell or a rocket — streaked into an upper-floor flat through the window and struck wooden furniture.The room burst into flames and eventually, the flat on the 24th floor of Tower 6 on the premises of Panache located at Mahisbathan, was mostly gutted.Hundreds of residents at the complex were evacuated overnight but no injury or casualty was reported.The owners of the recently-purchased flat, a couple and their elderly kin, were in Chennai at the time of the incident. However, cops suspect a window had been open in the empty flat. The owners rushed back to the city on Monday after being alerted by the cops.As the blaze grew, the building’s internal firefighting system was activated and three fire tenders arrived at the scene. Power connection to the affected tower and to the one next to it was snapped as a critical safety measure. The elevators in the affected tower were rendered inoperable. Rescue personnel and neighbours had to carry elderly residents — including some in wheelchairs — down the stairs to safety.Fire officials and cops have launched a probe into the incident. According to residents, cops had earlier visited the affected condo several times, cautioning them against bursting illegal firecrackers.
