Fire at Building in Mailardevpally, 50 Rescued, None Hurt

Hyderabad: Fire personnel averted a major tragedy by rescuing over 50 persons, including 20 minors, from a burning three-storey building in Mughal Colony in Mailardevpally, at around 7.30 am on Sunday. There were no casualties.

According to Chandrayangutta station fire officer (SFO) K. Bikshapati, the fire, suspected to be the result of a short circuit, started on the ground floor. The blaze intensified when some unused raw material in the basement area caught fire. On being alerted by the security staff, residents of the apartments on the second and third floors rushed to the terrace.

Sheikh Waheed, a resident, called the Chandrayangutta fire station, who reached the spot within 10 minutes. Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, Waheed said, “We noticed smoke escalating up to the third floor. A few of us came downstairs, while the rest rushed above. Those trapped on the ground floor were rescued by the fire officers from their houses.”

The flames were doused within 90 minutes. The operation was led by Md Shabbir, who was accompanied by firemen S. Srikanth, K. Kranti, and Devendrasagar. While two of them focused on extinguishing the flames, two of them rescued nearly 50 people, including children, trapped on the ground floor and the terrace.

“We first broke into the houses of the ones living on the ground floor and got them out. As smoke had engulfed the entire building, we had to use a dragon light, and bring them all down by making them crawl, to prevent anyone from inhaling any smoke,” said Shabbir.

Rescuers had lifted children in their arms to get them down. Videos of the incident were being widely circulated on social media platforms.

As the residents did not give a complaint, no case was registered with the Mailardevpally police, confirmed inspector P. Narender. The property loss is estimated to be Rs.2.5 lakh.