Lucknow fire tragedy: Four officials suspended, four arrested

The Uttar Pradesh government suspended four officials and arrested four building owners after the Lucknow fire that killed 15 people. Investigators are probing allegations of illegal commercial use of a residential building and possible violations of fire and safety norms

Lucknow: Four officials have been suspended in connection with the fire tragedy in Lucknow, which claimed 15 lives on Monday afternoon.

“On the directions of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, four persons have been suspended with immediate effect. They are: Gaurav Kumar (Executive Engineer Collection of Electricity Department), Kamlendra Kumar Singh, FSSO (Fire Department) Indira Nagar, Anil Kumar AE (LDA), and Pramod Kumar JE(LDA),” the UP government said in a statement.

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Additionally, four individuals have been arrested in connection with the fire. Officials said the accused are joint owners of the building.

An FIR has been filed at the Aliganj police station under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Uttar Pradesh Fire and Emergency Services Act against six named individuals and others, police said.

It has been alleged that the building was approved for residential use but was being illegally utilised for commercial activities.

Aliganj ACP Shashi Prakash Mishra informed PTI that the allegations are under investigation, and appropriate action will be taken.

The fire broke out at a three-storey commercial building in Aliganj on Monday afternoon, killing 15 people and injuring several others. The building housed an animation centre where students had gathered, as well as a pet shop and a clinic on the lower floors.

Most of the victims were trapped on the second floor of the building, located on Usha Mehta Marg in Aliganj in north Lucknow, where students were attending classes at an animation centre.

Eyewitnesses said several people jumped out of the building, which was completely gutted in the fire.

Preliminary information suggested the fire may have started in the building’s AC duct, and the smoke led to suffocation due to the absence of a proper exit route, UP Urban Development and Energy Minister A K Sharma said, adding possible lapses in building standards would be probed.