Hyderabad: Dramatic scenes were witnessed after a major fire broke out on the fifth floor of Khan Lateef Khan Estate at Fateh Maidan in Basheerbagh on Wednesday afternoon.
No causalities were reported but as many as 200 people had to be evacuated from the building.
The fire caused a huge traffic jam on the busy road, as many stopped their vehicles to watch smoke billowing out of the building.
Personnel from the state fire department and the GHMC’s Enforcement, Vigilance and Disaster Management (EVDM) jumped into action to bring the fire under control. The fire damaged the fifth floor of the building. The sixth and seventh floors were partially hit.
Eyewitnesses said the fire broke out around 1 pm. A large screen of smoke covered the sky within no time.
As a major part of the building is occupied by commercial space, several shop keepers were worried their stock would be reduced to ashes. “I stopped by the Khan Lateef Khan Estate after hearing loud screams,” said Mr B. Narendra Chowdary, an eyewitness, who was on his way from Basheerbagh to Lakdikapool.
“I watched in shock as people kept running in and out of the building. I was horrified on overhearing a person tell his friend that hundreds were trapped inside.”
When GHMC’s disaster management teams reached the spot, they said there were only six people trapped inside and the cause of the fire was not clear.
Mr Imran Khan, who has working at a cellphone repair shop on the ground floor said he was surprised to see people running down in fear. “I heard people screaming to use the staircase and not the elevator,” he said. “I realised something unusual had happened in the building.”
He said the fire tenders that reached the spot did not start anything for 20 minutes because of a technical snag. The situation was finally brought under control around 3.30 pm by 10 fire-fighting machines.
According to Hyderabad District Fire Officer Mr M. Srinivasa Reddy, preliminary investigation reveals a short circuit caused the fire. He said as many as 11 fire-fighting vehicles and over 100 personnel managed to bring the fire under control around 3.30 pm. Mr Reddy said the fire teams rescued six persons trapped inside the building and another six working for GHMC’s vigilance wing, who went inside the building to rescue those trapped inside.
Director of enforcement, vigilance and disaster management, Mr Vishwajit Kampati, said two fire department officials and a disaster management official were trapped inside. He said due to lack of ventilation, the officials fell ill. But they recovered immediately after being giving oxygen.
Traffic police who were on the spot barricaded the area and diverted traffic to alternative routes. Furniture and systems of a call centre named Advantage were damaged. Police is yet to estimate the loss of property.
