A fire broke out at the hostel of Saveetha Engineering College, Thandalam, near Sriperumpudur, in the early hours of Friday. As soon as fire broke out, a few students alerted the others. Students staying in the nine-storey building were immediately evacuated.
Fire tenders from Irungattukottai, Sriperumbudur, Poonamallee and Oragadam were pressed into service. A fire officer said electric short circuit could have caused the fire on the fourth floor of the building which housed 1,000 students. Since it was an open hall, cots were gutted, he added.