Patna: A fire broke out in a hostel at IAS Colony in

Kidwaipuri

under the Kotwali police station area on Saturday. Preliminary reports suggested that a

short circuit

led to the blaze. Several teams from the fire brigade rushed to the spot and safely evacuated around 20 people from the multi-storey building, fire officials said.
The incident took place around 3.30pm when about 50 people were inside the building. No one was injured in the incident. According to the initial investigation, a short circuit in an electric port on the second floor of the four-storey hostel led to the fire, the police said. The investigating team, however, is trying to ascertain the exact reason for the fire.
Manoj Kumar Nat, district fire officer, said their team reached the spot within two minutes after the blaze started in the building. "The Lodipur station, only a few meters away from the hostel, arrived with seven fire tender teams. All the people inside the building were safely evacuated, and the team controlled the flames," he said.
He added: "According to the boarders, the fire started due to an electrical short circuit caused due to overload caused by using a water heater rod by a youth. Due to the blaze, there was a blast in the AC as well."