A major fire broke out in the IIT Madras campus on Wednesday night, in the Centre for Industrial Consultancy and Sponsored Research. According to reports, five fire tenders were pressed into service, and it took them several minutes to bring the blaze under control.
The fire broke out at 10pm, and fire engines from Teynampet, Guindy, Raj Bhavan and Saidapet were immediately rushed in.
The third floor of the building was completely burnt before the fire fighters could control the blaze, reports said.
An IIT Madras media statement said, "There has been an incident of fire in a part of the top floor of the IC&SR building of IIT Madras. The fire tenders were brought in immediately and the fire has been brought under control. No one has been injured; no one was inside the building. We thank the fire department and the fire fighters for their immediate support. The reason for the fire will be investigated."
According to The Fifth Estate, IIT Madras's official media body, "The Director has confirmed that there are no casualties. The source of the fire has been located to be the NPTEL office, from where people had left 15 minutes before the fire began. The fire is nearly under control as of now."
While the reason for the fire is still unknown, reports say that the power supply in the whole campus was shut down due to the massive blaze.
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Note: We will update this report as and when more information comes in.