SBI ATM catches fire in Kanpur, cash safe
By IANSThursday, August 26, 2010
KANPUR - An ATM of India’s largest state-run bank, State Bank of India (SBI) caught fire in Uttar Pradesh’s Kanpur district Thursday triggering panic amongst the customers, police said. No injury was reported in the incident and the cash inside was safe.
The ATM at the bank’s Govindnagar branch caught fire Thursday afternoon. Two fire tenders were rushed to the spot and the blaze brought under control within 30-45 minutes.
“Though a major portion of the machine was destroyed in the fire, cash inside was safe due to the timely intervention of the fire brigade which managed to control the fire from spreading to other areas,” Superintendent of Police (West) Mohit Gupta told reporters in the city, some 80 km from Lucknow.
According to police, the bank caught fire shortly after some customers had made their transactions. At the time of the incident, no one was present inside the ATM cabin.
“Preliminary investigations indicate the fire took place owing to an electronic short-circuit inside the ATM cabin,” Gupta said.
