Four women were killed in a fire that broke out at an office complex at Lakshmi Mills junction on Avinashi road in the heart of Coimbatore this morning.

Nine others, including three members of the fire service who were engaged in putting out the fire, were injured.

Police said that R. Keerthana (22) who was working as a receptionist in one of the offices in the building, Srilakshmi (30), and two members of the house keeping staff Vijayalakshmi and Margaret Mary were killed in the fire.

Five employees working in the offices in the building ‘Vigneshwar Cresta’, including two women who jumped out to escape the leaping flames from the third floor, were injured. Three members of the fire service who were hurt while battling the flames were hospitalised and a member of the public who assisted in the rescue also sustained injuries.

The office complex housed the private sector Axis Bank in the ground floor, which escaped damage since the fire was restricted to higher floors in the building. Among others, insurance company ICICI Lombard and share trading company Sharekhan also had offices and it was the latter that sustained much of the damage.

Nearly 20 fire tenders battled for nearly three hours to put out the fire in the complex which has three floors excluding the ground floor. While the cause of the fire was not immediately known, it is suspected that electrical short circuit could be a reason.

Some quick thinking led to the use of ladder-mounted vehicle used for repairing street lights to bring down the people who took refuge on the terrace of the building. An IAF chopper also was requisitioned from Sulur Air Force base near the city but its services were not needed as the rescue was completed by then.

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