Five killed in fire at Andhra Pradesh road construction site

Five people were killed in a fire at a road construction site in Pinakota village in Andhra Pradesh’s Alluri Sitaramaraju district on Saturday morning, police said.

The blaze broke out while diesel was being transferred to a vehicle at the site. PTI reported the fire started possibly during the refuelling of a dumper truck, while IANS reported diesel was being filled into a Bolero Camper vehicle at about 8:30am (https://thefederal.com/category/states/south/andhra-pradesh/at-least-five-killed-in-fire-at-andhra-pradesh-road-construction-site-260550). The flames spread to a small tipper lorry and a two-wheeler parked nearby, and all three vehicles were completely gutted, according to IANS (https://www.dtnext.in/news/national/five-killed-in-fire-at-road-construction-site-in-andhra-pradesh).

Alluri Sitaramaraju district Superintendent of Police Amit Bardar said workers at the remote site generally transport diesel in drums to refuel vehicles because the location is around 100 km away, and that the workers may not have taken adequate precautions while filling a tank, with a spark possibly triggering the fire (https://thefederal.com/category/states/south/andhra-pradesh/at-least-five-killed-in-fire-at-andhra-pradesh-road-construction-site-260550).

“It was not a blast. I would call it an accidental fire. Five deaths is what we have been able to confirm so far,” Bardar told PTI (https://thefederal.com/category/states/south/andhra-pradesh/at-least-five-killed-in-fire-at-andhra-pradesh-road-construction-site-260550).

The identities of the dead have not been officially confirmed, and it is not yet known whether they were construction workers or passersby, IANS reported (https://www.dtnext.in/news/national/five-killed-in-fire-at-road-construction-site-in-andhra-pradesh). A police team had reached the site and another team was expected to arrive to investigate, Bardar said (https://thefederal.com/category/states/south/andhra-pradesh/at-least-five-killed-in-fire-at-andhra-pradesh-road-construction-site-260550).