Companies named in Cape Breton fatal fire lawsuit deny liability - Action News
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Nova Scotia

Companies named in Cape Breton fatal fire lawsuit deny liability

Rajesh Gollapudi, 34, died in a fire in a Sydney duplex on Dec. 17, 2022. His father is suing the landlords and two of his roommates. In a statement of defence, the landlords are denying any liability.

Rajesh Gollapudi, 34, died in fire in Sydney duplex on Dec. 17, 2022

Students place plastic candles in front of a photograph of an international student from India who was killed in a December 2022 house fire in Sydney, N.S.
Rajesh Gollapudi died when the Sydney duplex he and seven other people lived in caught fire in December 2022. (Erin Pottie/CBC)

Two companies being sued by the family of a 34-year-old international student who died in a duplex fire in Cape Bretonin 2022 are denying any and all liability and are shifting the blame to two of the victim's roommates.

Rajesh Gollapudi was living in the apartment with seven other students at the time of his death on Dec. 17, 2022. He had been a Cape Breton University student. His father filed a lawsuit alleging his son was unable to escape the fire due to a lack of fire safety measures.

The landlords Hanover Storage Inc. and 4389064 Nova Scotia Ltd. have been charged under Nova Scotia's Fire Safety Act.

A firefighter stands at the entrance to a side-by-side duplex house that caught fire.
The duplex was on Park Street in Sydney. (Josefa Cameron/CBC)

They have since filed a notice of defence in the civil suit through the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia denying any liability in the fire andciting several factors they sayshowed negligence on behalf of their tenants.

The notice of defence includes a statement of cross-claim against two of Gollapudi's roommates,Sai Vidaddiand Ajay Chowdary.

The companies claim the students violated the terms of theirlease by:

  • Smoking on the premises.
  • Storing tires and/or other flammable or hazardous materials on the premises.
  • Not storing trash properly.
  • Failing to report lease violations.
  • Failing to maintain smoke detectors.

Vidaddi and Chowdary have not responded to the claims yet and none of the allegations against them have been proven in court.

With files from Erin Pottie