16 Sep Fire at electric scooter showroom in southern India kills eight
A fire started at an electric scooter showroom in India has killed at least eight people and injured eleven.
Police confirmed the details of the incident, describing it as one of the deadliest such incident involving electric vehicles in the country.
The fire broke out late on Monday in a hotel basement housing the showroom with some two dozen electric scooters in the southern city of Secunderabad, police said. Authorities brought the blaze under control and an investigation has been launched.
The rise in use of electric scooters has been sharp but a series of electric scooter fires this year has alarmed the government, which is keen to still promote the use of such two-wheelers in its fight against pollution. Early investigations have identified faulty battery cells and battery modules among the main causes.
City police official Chandana Deepti told Reuters: “There were electric scooters parked where the fire started.
“We don’t know if it started because of overcharging and then spread or whether it started elsewhere. That is still being established.”
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was saddened by the deaths and promised compensation for the casualties in the fire.
In March, India launched an investigation over safety concerns after a string of e-scooter fires, including one in which a man and his daughter died when their e-bike “went up in flames.”
India wants e-scooters and e-bikes to make up 80 percent of total two-wheeler sales by 2030, from about two percent now.
