Two persons were charred to death and several others were trapped when a fire broke out in a three-storey plastic mat manufacturing unit in a congested bylane of Nagarathpete in Bengaluru on August 16.

The fire and police control room received a message around 3 a.m. Fire and emergency service teams, along with six tenders, rushed to the spot and put out the fire after 10 hours.

The police recovered the charred bodies of Madan Singh and Suresh while trying to open the third floor apartment where Madan’s family is suspected to have been trapped.

Bengaluru Police Commissioner Seemant Kumar Singh visited the spot to supervise the rescue operation.

The fire broke out at the ground floor where the raw materials were stored to manufacture plastic mats. Though electric short circuit is suspected to have triggered the fire , the reason is yet to be ascertained as Bescom, fire and FSL teams are probing, he said.

The fire soon spread to the entire building where people were living on the first second and third floor.

Many residents hearing the sound of the fire and blast from the plastic material jumped to the adjacent building and escaped, minimising casualties.

The fire personnel are trying to reach the third floor where Madan’s family, including his wife and children, are trapped.

Due to the heat and smoke the rescue operations are delayed but the police have managed to reach now , a senior police officer, said.

The BBMP officials reached the spot and are verifying the documents to find any lapses.