GUWAHATI, June 24 - A massive fire broke out on the third floor of a multi-storeyed building near Nursery area at RG Baruah Road this evening, completely gutting an airhostess training institute where furnishing work was going on.
The training institute was supposed to be operational once the furnishing work was completed.
The fire broke out around 4.30 pm in the Nirvana Apartment, apparently due to an electric short-circuit. The short-circuit also led to the bursting of a couple of cooking gas cylinders, aggravating the situation.
One Amulya Prasad Dutta, an elderly resident on the top floor of the building, had to be rescued and rushed to a hospital after he was affected by smoke billowing out of the third floor.
Dutta was admitted to a private hospital and his condition is stated to be stable.
Immediately after the news of the inferno spread, fire-tenders from various stations along with personnel from police and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) rushed to the spot.
�It took us over an hour to douse the fire,� said a firefighter.
Nirvana Apartment, which also houses popular food joint Kareem�s on the second floor, saw a lot of commotion as people tried to make their way out of the building in a hurry.
�Fortunately, no one sustained any injury,� said Himangshu Das, officer-in-charge of the Dispur police station.
Kulkul Das, manager of Kareem�s who was one of the first to spot the fire, said that he raised the alarm immediately after seeing the flames on the third floor.
�All the people who were present in the building were evacuated immediately,� Das said.
Kavyyanil Kalita, a resident of the building, said that electrical works of the third floor was going on for the past few days at the institute.
�However, today being Sunday, there was no one present for the work,� Kalita said.
Following the fire, the RG Baruah Road witnessed massive congestion. Additional traffic police personnel had to be deployed to streamline vehicular movement.
