Chennai, 20 December (H.S.) : A major fire erupted at the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited office on Anna Salai early Saturday morning, causing panic along the busy commercial stretch.

The incident occurred around nine thirty am when a security guard noticed thick smoke billowing from the second floor of the building. Since it was a holiday, the office was closed, and no injuries or entrapments were reported.

Fire and rescue services deployed five fire tenders and ten metro water tankers to the scene, battling the blaze for over an hour before bringing it under control.

Preliminary investigations suggest that the fire was likely caused by an electrical short circuit. Police officials suspect that a battery stored in a room on the second floor may have exploded, sparking the flames which then spread through cable lines to the third, fourth, and sixth floors.

The thick smoke led to significant traffic congestion on the arterial road as motorists slowed down to observe the scene. Police personnel were stationed at the site to regulate traffic and ensure the safety of the public while the firefighting operations were underway.

The fire has resulted in the disruption of several critical services housed within the facility. TANGEDCO reported that its servers located at the BSNL office were affected, leading to a temporary halt in online payment services. Additionally, backup servers for the one hundred eight ambulance service were damaged.

However, authorities clarified that the main control room for the ambulance service in Teynampet continues to operate normally. Further investigations are currently being conducted to assess the full extent of the structural damage and to confirm the exact cause of the accident.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Dr. R. B. Chaudhary