Gas leak leads to fire in Hyd's Shah Ghouse restaurant, 1 critically injured

A gas leak in the kitchen of Hyderabad’s Shah Ghouse restaurant resulted in a fire mishap, leaving 10 injured and one critically injured on Friday.

50-year-old Shantabai was critically injured and sustained with 50% burn injuries. Nine others suffered minor injuries. All ten injured worked in the restaurant kitchen. The injured were rushed to KIMS Hospital, and were later shifted to Apollo DRDO Hospital.

“The fire department received the emergency call at 1 PM. It took twenty minutes to put out the fire. This was an accident due to a gas leak from an LPG cylinder and not a cylinder blast,” said Sridhar Reddy, District Fire Officer, Ranga Reddy district.

The Gachibowli police have registered a case against the management of Shah Ghouse management under IPC sections 337 (Causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) and 338 (Causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others).

“The incident happened at 12:31 pm, and the people injured were people who were working in the kitchen. There were fewer customers at the restaurant at the time of the accident as it is a Friday, and most customers arrive only after the Friday namaaz prayers. The few customers who were present ran out when they heard the blast,” said G Ramesh, inspector, Gachibowli Police station.

Shah Ghouse is a popular restaurant known for its biriyani and haleem dishes. In 2016, an MBA student sent a false WhatsApp message against the restaurant that they used dog meat. He was later arrested. In 2017, the restaurant was also fined Rs 10,000 by the Legal Metrology Department for charging more than the Maximum Retail Price (MRP) for a soft drink.