23 persons evacuated from fire in building

, Oct 24: A

today broke out in a

office on the first floor of a building after which 23 employees of two firms were evacuated from the premises, police said here.

The fire started when an air conditioner suddenly burst into flames after being switched on, a spokesman of the bank said. The flames were doused by 15 fire tenders after a four-hour battle, fire officials said.

All the trapped persons were helped out by fire and rescue service personnel through the rear side of the building, they said. An ATM machine, computers and other equipment in the bank were damaged and the actual loss was being ascertained, fire service personnel said.

Twenty of those evacuated were from a private architect's firm and three, including a woman, from the bank. There was no employee in the insurance firm on the second floor as it had not yet opened for business.

PTI