Major fire in Secunderabad

Hyderabad: A major fire broke out in a five-storey building on Thursday on the Minister's Road in Secunderabad. As many as 40 fire tenders have been rushed to the site to bring the blaze under control. The blaze continues to rage even after 12 hours.

According to the DCP central zone, the fire broke out around 11:30 am on the ground floor of a five-storey building. The ground and first floors house the Deccan Night Wear Sports store.

Two people are suspected to have been charred to death in the massive fire. This exposes the slackness on the part of concerned wings like the GHMC, the Electricity department, the fire brigade and the builders and those who take them on lease.

Thick blanket of smoke continued to engulf the area till late on Thursday night. Because of the reigniting fire and no adequate open space available, the Fire department has been continuously struggling without much success. One of the beams of the third floor had bent by about 40 degrees and the iron used in construction seems to be melting due to high intensity of continuous fire for about 12 hours. The Fire department does not rule out the possibility of collapse of the building if the fire does not come under control. As a precautionary measure, the people living in the basti behind this building have been evacuated.

On the right side of the building in which the fire broke out, there is a hardware shop which had developed cracks. On the left side, another building Max Motors also got affected. People in and around that area are feeling suffocated due to the thick smoke. Next 24 hours, people need to take care in this regard.

Officials said that ten people trapped in the building were rescued with the help of a crane. The fire is suspected to have started from the cellar of the building and spread to the other floors. "We rescued four people. Two fire personnel were also shifted to a hospital after they inhaled smoke." Telangana State Disaster Response and Fire Services DG Nagi Reddy told The Hans India that "this is one of the major fire accidents in Hyderabad." GHMC DRF Chief Vishwajit Kampati said that there was no place for firemen to go near the building resulting delay in rescue operations.

In one of the floors, car décor accessories, sports equipment and nylon material were stored, he said.

Asked about the cause of the blaze, the official said that short circuit could be the main reason. Personnel of Fire department, police and Disaster Response Force (DRF) teams were involved in the firefighting. Efforts were on to douse the flames. A senior police official said, "If we are controlling the fire on one side, it is erupting from the other side. People residing in surrounding houses and shops were evacuated and gas cylinders were also moved out of those premises."