A major fire killed 17 people including eight children in a residential building near Hyderabad’s Gulzar Houz in the early hours of Sunday, May 18. The fire, which broke out at 6:16 am in the Old City building, started on the ground floor and spread to the two floors above.
Speaking to TNM, Gowliguda Station Fire Officer (SFO) N Praveen Kumar stated that the fire has been contained. He said that seven tankers were deployed initially to contain the fire. A total of 11 vehicles, one fire fighting robot, 17 fire officers, and 70 personnel were involved in extinguishing the fire and rescuing those trapped inside the building.
Speaking to the media, Telangana Minister Ponnam Prabhakar stated that the children who passed away were visiting their families for vacation.
The deceased have been identified as Prahlad (70), Munni (70), Rajendar Modi (65), Sumitra (60), Hamey (7), Abhishek (31), Sheetal (35) Priyansh (4), Iraaj (2) Arushi (3), Rishabh (4), Pratham (1.5), Anuyan (3), Varsha (35), Pankaj (36), Rajini (32) and Iddu (4).
The injured have been shifted to Yashoda Malakpet (8), Apollo Hospital Hyderguda (5), Apollo DRDO (2), Osmania General Hospital (1) and Care Hospital Nampally (1).
“Five victims were admitted to Apollo Hospital in Hyderguda and two in Apollo Hospital DRDO. All the victims had severe burns and inhalation injuries and could not be revived,” a statement from Apollo Hospitals read.
Eight victims including two children aged seven and two were brought dead to Yashoda Hospital. The management of Care Hospital in Nampally told TNM that they received one victim, a teenage boy, who died before reaching the hospital.
"The deceased were trapped on the first floor and it was difficult for them to escape as these are buildings with narrow passages and staircases. This building was constructed in the 70s. Once the fire broke out, they were unable to get out. However, four others trapped in the second floor have been rescued and are in stable condition as of now," an official overseeing the accident told TNM.
Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy has directed officials to “intensify relief efforts” and will be visiting the victim’s families to offer condolences.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced an ex-gratia of Rs 50,000 to those injured and Rs 2 lakh for the family of the deceased from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF).
This is a developing story.