HYDERABAD: Officials of the Hyderabad Clues team confirmed that three things led to the deadly fire at the scrap godown in Bhoiguda in which 11 persons were charred to death. While a short circuit caused by poor wiring and fuses sparked the fire, a fire extinguisher fell on the trolley parked beside the spiral staircase, which went up in flames, followed by a gas leak. It all happened within a span of a few minutes, officials said. Meanwhile, the Gandhinagar police are yet to make an arrest in the case.
Explaining the cause of the fire, Dr. Venkanna, head of Hyderabad city police Clues team, said the place had very poor electric wiring. “The fuses, copper wires and poor maintenance of the electrical system led to a short circuit, which triggered the fire. The fire extinguisher, which was on the first floor, fell on an auto trolley parked near the entrance and exploded, burning the spiral staircase, which was their only way to escape. Meanwhile, the nozzle of a gas cylinder flew away, causing a gas leak and further amplified the fire,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Gandhinagar police said they had received the report from the Clues team and were waiting for further reports from the fire department. “We still have to investigate into the incident. No arrests have been made in the case yet,” said a senior official from the city police.
The owner of the godown, Sampath, was booked under IPC section 304-A (negligence causing death) of the IPC. “Since it is an offence warranting jail time of below seven years, notices will be served for now. Sampath is still hospitalised and would be asked to join the probe once he is discharged,” said DCP of the central zone, M. Rajesh Chandra, adding that if negligence was proved on the part of Sampath in the fire department report, IPC sections might be altered to culpable homicide not amounting to murder and he would be placed under arrest.
