An ambulance carrying a patient caught fire injuring a person and destroying tobacco worth Rs 40 lakh. The incident occurred in Andhra Pradeh's Prakasam district late on Monday.
The 108 ambulance was carrying a patient for dialysis from Rajasahebpeta village to a hospital. After covering some distance, driver Tirupati Rao noticed smoke in his cabin. He immediately stopped the ambulance and alerted his colleague Madhusudhan Reddy. The latter helped the patient and his mother accompanying him to get down.
The fire, which apparently broke out due to a short circuit, soon spread to the entire vehicle. An oxygen cylinder kept in the ambulance exploded and under its impact some burning material of the vehicle fell on a nearby shed where farmers had stored tobacco. The entire stock was reduced to ashes.
A person standing near the shed also suffered burn injuries. He was shifted to a hospital.
The incident sent panic among people in the area. A fire tender rushed there but by that time the entire ambulance and tobacco stock was gutted.
Three farmers who had stored the tobacco in a shed said they suffered a loss of Rs 40 lakh. Police said they registered a case and took up the investigation.
Earlier, a warehouse was gutted in a fire accident at the Puranapul area near the Musi River in Hyderabad. No loss of life was reported in the fire that broke out in a furniture warehouse but a huge blaze sent panic among people and forced the authorities to vacate residents from the surrounding houses.
Seven fire engines were pressed into service to put off the blaze which was raging even after three hours. The structure's roof collapsed due to the massive fire.
Fire services personnel were pulling down the walls of the warehouse with bulldozers to control the fire.
The huge blaze forced the authorities to undertake evacuation of people from surrounding houses. Locals had a heated argument with officials, questioning them why the warehouse was allowed in the midst of residential area.
(This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)