150 Students Rescued After Fire Breaks Out From Power Panel
Around 10.30 am, the fire service staff received calls from locals and passengers travelling by a Metro Rail train stating that a fire had broken out at the building, located behind the Ameerpet Metro Rail station: Reports
HYDERABAD: Police and fire staff on Friday rescued 150 students, who were stranded in classrooms of various coaching centres, after a fire broke out at the five-storey Nilgiri block of the Aditya Enclave in Ameerpet. No one was injured in the incident. Locals stepped in first, clambering up the balcony and tearing down nameboard to allow the smoke to dissipate.
Around 10.30 am, the fire service staff received calls from locals and passengers travelling by a Metro Rail train stating that a fire had broken out at the building, located behind the Ameerpet Metro Rail station.
Three fire tenders, along with the Bronto sky lift ladder from Secretariat, were rushed to the spot. With thick smoke spreading through the building, the fire service staff brought more fire tenders.
According to officials, fire broke out from the panel board located on the ground floor, and firefighters brought the situation under control within minutes. They also rescued more than 90 students by using the sky lift from the second floor.
The official said that as many as 150 students, including staff of several offices and shops, were stuck inside their offices when the fire broke out. Some students climbed down from the second floor to the first floor through flex rods to save their lives.
Hyderabad district fire unit-II officer Ajmeera Sreedas said that the initial reports indicated that the fire mishap took place due to a short circuit at the ground floor and the smoke emanated from the ground floor to the fifth floor, as the lift shaft is located adjacent to the panel board. All electric wires were burnt, but no one was injured, and no property loss was reported.
Thick Smoke Caused Panic Among Students
It was around 10.15 am on Friday. At least 35 students were sitting at the testing tools coaching centre located on the second floor of Nilgiri block of the Aditya Enclave in Ameerpet. Some students just went down to the ground floor to have tea. The students in the classroom noticed thick smoke spreading over the second floor.
"We thought that the fire broke out on the second floor. Some students ran out of the classroom and reached the ground floor through the steps. However, we were unable to go down through the steps and climbed down from the windows to the first floor with the support of flex rods. Later, we heard that the fire broke out from the panel board located on the ground floor," said S.N. Suresh, a student learning testing tools at the private institute.
A sugar-cane juice vendor N. Santosh Yadav said that he heard shouting from the building and the students stuck on the second floor asked him for help. He thought that the fire broke out on the fourth floor when thick smoke emanated from all floors.
Hyderabad District-II fire officer Ajmeera Sreedas said that the building was not built in compliance with fire safety norms, and it had no NoC on fire safety. Earlier, the fire department served the notices when the fire mishap took place at the nearest computer store. Though the building had fire safety pipelines, they had not in use for the past few years. It had no fire extinguishers in the offices and on the floors.
“We will serve notices to occupants to remove additional flexes from their offices as the building was fully covered with the flexes of their office names, coaching centres,” Sreedas said.
