Hyderabad: At least six youths were killed in a major fire that broke out in a multi-storey commercial complex in Secunderabad here on Thursday evening, officials said. A senior police officer said the doctors have established the cause of death as due to suffocation.
Police identified the deceased as Prashant,(23), native of Mahabubabad district, Vennela Ravi, (22), native of Warangal district, B Shravani, (22), also from Warangal district, U Shiva, (22), native of Medak district, Triveni Ramarao, (22), native of Khammam district, and Pramila, (22), native of Mahabubabad district.
According to an eyewitness, the fire started at around 6.30 pm on the 7th floor of the 8-storey building due to a short-circuit. The fire spread down fast and reached the fourth floor. There was an explosion in the fifth floor and the blaze kept going strong. The commercial complex has textile shops, computer institutes, private call centre firms and other offices and will always be crowded.
As the fire engulfed four floors, those trapped inside the building went to the eighth floor and were calling out for help. The SOS calls filled the air. The power supply to the building was stopped soon after the Electricity department was informed, the eyewitness said.
A senior official who was part of the rescue operation said the rescue became difficult due to the incessant smoke emission from the fire. Many of them who were trapped in the fire managed to break open the bathroom windows and shop windows to flee. Some climbed on the sunshades and waited for the hydraulic lift from our agency for rescue.
Over 10 fire tenders were pressed into service to douse the raging fire. The fire was put out after an ordeal of few hours and the smoke continued to emanate from the building. Fire department officials said it would take some more time for the smoke to subside. At least 15 persons who were trapped in the fire were rescued. Six of them are still in treatment.
Swapnalok Complex is spread over an area of 4 lakh square feet and has 2 blocks. It has about 400 shops. It remains crowded from 10 am to 10 pm day in and day out. About 3,000 people work here in different establishments. There are about 170 shops on the cellar, ground, and first floors, which remains crowded through the day. The rest of the floors have office spaces and most of them pull their shutters down at around 5 pm. By the time the fire broke out, most of the employees have left from floors 5 - 7. As soon as the fire broke out, the visitors and shop keepers rushed out of the complex.
Ministers Mahmood Ali, Talasani Srinivas Yadav, Hyderabad Collector Amay Kumar, and GHMC Mayor Vijayalakshmi visited the accident site and supervised the relief efforts. The bodies of the deceased were preserved in the Government Gandhi Hospital mortuary. After the postmortem examination, the bodies will be handed over to the family members.
It maybe recalled three people were killed in a major fire that broke out in a five-storey commercial building in Secunderabad earlier in January. The commercial complex was subsequently demolished by the authorities.
