Watchman dead, over 40 girls rescued from hostel after fire in Pune building

A watchman died and more than 40 girl students were rescued after a fire broke out in a five-storey building that houses a hostel in Shanipar area of Maharashtra's Pune city in the wee hours of Friday, 7 June, officials said.

The incident occurred around 1.30 am, said Pune Municipal Corporation's chief fire officer Devendra Potphode.

Forty-two girl students who were living in the hostel on the second floor of the building were evacuated following the fire, he said.

"The fire brigade received a call about the fire in a five-storey building. After our team reached the spot, it was found that the blaze had erupted at an accounting academy on the ground floor," Potphode said.

By the time the fire brigade team reached the site, people in the area evacuated the girl students in the hostel, he said.

When the fire was being doused on the ground floor, one person in his early 40s was found dead there with the death apparently being caused by burn injuries, he added.

Deputy commissioner of police (Zone-1) Sandip Singh Gill said that deceased man was a watchman who was inside a room on the ground floor.

"After he was found there, he was referred to the Sassoon General Hospital, but was declared dead by doctors," he said.

The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained, officials said.