Tamil Nadu: Fire broke out at Madurai Meenakshi temple, no casualty reported

On Friday major fire broke out at the famous Meenakshi Amman temple in Madurai, Tamil Nadu. At least 10 shops were damaged nearby. But there are no reports of any casualty or injury. Collector K Veera Raghava Rao rushed to the temple as the news spread. He personally supervised the rescue effort. The fire was brought under control around midnight as the firefighters and the authorities were keen to prevent the fire from spreading to the museum and other places on the premises.


A senior fire service official said, "We got information about the fire in shops near the 1,000 pillar mandapam in the temple. We rushed five fire tenders and controlled the fire from spreading. There is no damage for the temple. The old wooden door was saved by preventive action.”


More than five fire tenders were on the spot to douse the flames. Initial reports suggest that a short circuit triggered the fire. Over 80 fire and rescue service personnel brought the inferno under control after a struggle of over one-and-a-half hours. No human casualty was reported in the incident but doves nesting on the premises suffocated to death. While officials confirmed that no harm had been done to the sanctum sanctorum, ancient sculptures on walls near Aayaram Kaal Mandapam were damaged.