As many as 25 electric bikes were gutted in a huge fire in a motor showroom in Andhra Pradesh's Parvathipuram Manyam district, police said. The incident occurred in Manam Motors in Palakonda town in the early hours of Monday, October 24. E-bikes and batteries kept in the showroom for a special discounted sale on Deepavali were destroyed in the fire. Fire tenders rushed to the spot and doused the fire. The exact cause of the fire will be known after investigation, a police officer said. According to the showroom management, the fire caused a loss of about Rs 50 lakh, IANS reported.
Earlier in September, a huge fire broke out in an electric vehicle showroom in Hyderabad, killing eight persons. The fire from the showroom located in the basement of a multi-storey building had spread to a hotel on the top floor, killing eight persons and injuring several others staying in the hotel. CCTV footage showed that the fire started near an electric scooter parked in the showroom and spread within seconds. The ground-plus-four structure which housed the Ruby Pride Hotel and Ruby Motor had 28 rooms, with around 25 people staying there at the time of the accident. Police had found several lapses in the functioning of the lodge and the e-bike showroom, including violation of fire safety norms. Another violation found was that the cellar was illegally used for business activity.
In another incident in April, a man was killed and three others were injured when the battery of an electric two-wheeler exploded in their house in Vijayawada. The explosion happened when the man left the battery charging in the bedroom. Shiva Kumar, his wife and their two children sustained burn injuries. Hearing their screams, neighbours rushed to their rescue and shifted them to a hospital, where Shiva Kumar succumbed to his injuries.