Deadly fire in Hyderabad claims 17 lives, authorities probe cause

Firefighters carry out rescue operation and investigation. Pic/PTI

Claiming the lives of 17 people, a massive fire broke out earlier on May 18 at a family residence located on the first floor, above the Modi Pearls jewellery shop in Gulzar House, Charkaman area of Charminar, Hyderabad.

As per an FIR lodged by Utkarsh Modi, son of Vinod Modi, his father received an urgent call around 6.45 in the morning from their relative Rohit, who alerted them that a fire had broken out at their family residence.

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When Utkarsh Modi and his father reached the scene, they found that the building was completely ablaze, with an emergency team already present and controlling the fire and evacuating those inside.

Victims included 17 people including children, who were severely affected and shifted to multiple hospitals including Yashoda Hospitals, Apollo Hospitals, Care Hospitals, and Osmania General Hospital, reported ANI.

Tragically, all 17 individuals were declared dead by doctors. The victims include Rajini Agarwal, Pankaj Modi, Varsha Modi, their children Aanya, Idhika, and Iraaj Modi, as well as Rishab Jain, Abhishek Modi, Arushi Jain, Sheetal Jain, Harshali Gupta, Rajender Kumar, Sumitra Modi, Prahalad Rai Modi, Munni Bai Modi, Pratham Agarwal, and Pranshi Agarwal.

The bodies were later sent for post-mortem examination at Osmania General Hospital.

According to the FIR two shops on the ground floor, Modi Pearls and Krishna Pearls and Jewellers, were completely ruined by fire. A case has been registered under crime number 83/2025 by the Charminar Police Station, and an investigation into the cause of the fire is ongoing.

The Telangana government has announced an ex-gratia of five lakh for the families of those who lost their lives in the Gulzar Houz fire, as confirmed by Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka Mallu. Additionally, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved two lakh for the next of kin of each deceased and 50,000 for the injured, from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund (PMNRF).

Expressing grief over the incident, Prime Minister Modi said he was ‘deeply anguished' by the loss of lives in the fire at a building at Hyderabad's Gulzar Houz.

In a post on X, the Prime Minister's Office wrote, "Deeply anguished by the loss of lives due to a fire tragedy in Hyderabad, Telangana. Condolences to those who have lost their loved ones. May the injured recover soon. An ex gratia of Rs two lakh from PMNRF would be given to the next of kin of each deceased. The injured would be given Rs 50,000."

Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy expressed deep shock over the tragic fire near Gulzar Houz in Hyderabad's Old City. He had directed senior officials to take urgent action to rescue those trapped and ensured the injured were promptly moved to nearby hospitals for proper medical care.

After a brief investigation conducted by the fire department officials, the fire was caused by a short circuit that led to a massive fire breakout. The cause of death of all the 17 people was smoke inhalation, ‘nobody had burn injuries,' Telangana Disaster Response and Fire Services DG Y Nagi Reddy said. However Bhatti Vikramarka Malli, Deputy CM mentioned that the fire might have been caused by a short circuit or a gas cylinder blast.

The list of the 17 deceased released by the Telangana Fire Disaster Response Emergency and Civil Defence includes the names of eight children under the age of 10. The youngest in the list was identified as one Prathan (1.5 years old). The seven other children have been identified as Hamey (7), Priyansh (4), Iraaj (2), Arushi (3), Rishabh (4), Anuyan (3) and Iddu (4). An eyewitness to the fire reported that the blaze originated at the rear end of the building.

(With inputs from ANI)