A fire broke out at Sri Kanya Cinema Hall in Gajuwaka area in Andhra Pradesh’s Visakhapatnam on Monday. The incident took place early morning - at around 6 am. Eight fire tenders were sent to the spot to help douse the fire.
Speaking to TNM, Gajuwaka Inspector, Rama Rao stated that there were no casualties. "The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained. We suspect that the fire took place because of a short circuit. The probe is still underway".
The staff present inside was immediately evacuated out of the building. Visuals of the spot put out by news agency ANI showed the top few floors of the building were on fire and large plumes of smoke billowing from the roof.
According to initial reports, the fire took over one hour to be controlled and cooling operations are currently underway. The cinema is located in a residential area and the fire reportedly has not spread to other buildings.
Andhra Pradesh: A fire has broken out in Sri Kanya Cinema Hall in Visakhapatnam's Gajuwaka. Five fire tenders are present at the spot. No casualties have been reported. More details awaited. pic.twitter.com/FMJqxYy5UT
— ANI (@ANI) September 17, 2018
Two screens of the theatre are believed to have been gutted in the fire. The theatre housed three screens and a shopping complex and had a seating capacity of around 250 people. Fortunately, since the fire broke out early in the morning, there were no shows being screened and there were no visitors inside the theatre.
A report states that fire safety equipment was not in place at the theatre. While the cause of the fire is not officially known, it is believed that a short circuit in one of the cell towers located on top of the building could have caused the fire.
A probe has been launched into the incident.