Two people were found dead inside a building in Bengaluru’s KG Halli on Monday, two days after a fire at a lubricant shop was extinguished and authorities initially believed everyone had evacuated, police said.
The deceased were identified as Akash and his wife, Nagarathna. Police said the couple worked at a petrol bunk and were found in a room on the first floor of the building at Kamagondanahalli, under the jurisdiction of Gangammagudi police station.
The fire broke out on October 24 at a small shop selling lubricants, oil and other materials. The shop was located in an old building, according to police. Fire and emergency services personnel and police responded to the incident and extinguished the blaze.
A senior police officer said the fire appeared to have been accidental and had continued for some time. After the flames were put out, the rooms in the building were checked. At that stage, authorities believed that all occupants had managed to leave, and there was no information indicating that anyone had died, the officer said.
The bodies were discovered on Monday after someone informed the police that a foul smell was coming from the building. Police personnel returned to the premises and conducted a more detailed inspection. The couple’s charred bodies were found near the doorway of a room on the first floor, police said.
The incident has raised an immediate question about how occupants are accounted for after fires in mixed-use or older buildings, particularly when commercial premises store combustible materials such as lubricants and oil. The supplied police account does not state how many people were believed to be inside the building when the fire began, whether the couple had been reported missing, or why their presence was not established during the first inspection.
Police said the couple were later identified as Akash and Nagarathna. The report did not provide details about the building’s ownership, its approvals, the shop’s storage arrangements, or whether any violations had been identified before the fire.
The cause of the fire remained under investigation. Police said it appeared to have been accidental, but no further technical details about the ignition or the materials involved were provided in the report.
The bodies were found two days after the blaze, following the police response to the report of a foul smell. Further details on the investigation and any action concerning the building or the shop were not available in the supplied account.
