Hyderabad: 17 killed in fire at building near Charminar, PM Modi condoles deaths

A blaze triggered by a suspected short circuit in a building near the iconic Charminar in Hyderabad on Sunday killed 17 people including eight children belonging to an extended familyThe fire broke out at a building in Gulzar Houz here police saidAll 17 who were shifted to hospitals were brought dead a senior police official told PTIPrime Minister Narendra Modi expressed anguish over the loss of lives and announced exgratiaA narrow staircase was the only escape route for the inmates of the building but they could not rush out a Fire Department official saidThe building housed jewellery shops on the ground floor and people were residing in a flat above police said adding smoke spread and people suffocatedAIMIM chief and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi told reporters that the family has been residing there for 125 years indicating that generations from the particular family have been living there for over a centuryThe family is said to be running a jewellery shop in the cityNow only two members of the family are left I want to offer my condolences I was informed by DG Fire Services that most of the deaths happened due to asphyxiation and fumeslet the report come it is very painful he saidHyderabad Police Commissioner C V Anand told PTI that most of the buildings including the one that caught fire at Gulzar Houz and surrounding areas are of 100 to 200 years oldTelangana State Disaster Response and Fire Services Director General Y Nagi Reddy who inspected the spot told reporters that the fire was reported between 6 and 615 amDuring the rescue operation one Fire official was also injured and admitted to hospitalThere was a call to the fire department at 616 am and the fire engine was turned out at 617 am he saidThere were shops on the ground floor while the first and second floors were residential spaces he saidPrimafacie cause of the fire is short circuit in the mains in the shopping area Reddy said adding the victims were sleeping when the fire broke outAccording to the relatives of the victims some of the children had come to the house that caught fire for summer holidays which ended in tragedyA total of 21 people were in the building when the fire erupted and of them 17 were shifted to hospitals by the fire department in an unconscious stateThere was only one escape route the staircase which was very narrow and the inmates could not run to safety he saidTelangana Fire Department in a statement said the fire broke out on the Ground floor G2 building and spread to the floors aboveIn a post on X PM Modi expressed condoled the deathsHe announced Rs 2 lakh for the kin of those who died and Rs 50000 to the injuredDeeply anguished by the loss of lives due to a fire tragedy in Hyderabad Telangana Condolences to those who have lost their loved ones May the injured recover soon the post saidChief Minister A Revanth Reddy expressed shock over the incident and directed senior officials to take all necessary measures to rescue those trapped in the buildingMeanwhile a separate release from CMO said Reddy has ordered an inquiry into the massive fire accident that occurred at Gulzar HouzThe CM stated that due to the timely response of the fire department a major loss of life was avertedPraising the Fire Department officials the CM said they were able to rescue nearly four people from a lifethreatening situationDeputy CM Bhatti Vikramarka told reporters said the state government has announced Rs 5 lakh exgratia each to the kin of the deceasedGovernor Jishnu Dev Varma conveyed his heartfelt condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in the incidentAddressing reporters after visiting the spot Transport and Hyderabad District incharge Minister Ponnam Prabhakar said a short circuit caused the fire We will order an inquiry into the fire accident There is no conspiracy angle in itFour families related to one another were residing in the building and many of them came to spend their vacation he addedShortly after the fire broke out Zahid who is into bangles business in Gulzar Houz area and an eyewitness to the fire incident told reporters that at around 610 am when he along with friends were passing by a woman told them about the fire that erupted in the building and there were family members with children insideAs the main door of the building was engulfed in flames we broke the shutter and also a wall and entered inside As the blaze was high we went to the first floorWe found seven people in one room and six others in another room We were not able to save them due to the fire Had we saved them it would have been good he saidHe further said he saw a dead woman hugging some lifeless childrenThe Osmania Hospital mortuary where bodies from different hospitals were sent for autopsy wore a grim look as relatives burst into tears in shockUnion Minister G Kishan Reddy also visited the spot He alleged that he was informed that fire tenders arrived lateThe allegation was dismissed by Nagi ReddyAn official release from the CMO said directions were issued to immediately shift the injured to hospitals and ensure proper medical treatmentThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoeveratOptionskeyd0ddb8ef8f1a62a8cdd22fac27fc5ea7formatiframeheight90width728params