Telangana Revenue Minister P Srinivas Reddy announced an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh to the kin of each of the deceased. Expressing grief over the deaths, he said that a thorough investigation will be conducted into the incident
The fire broke out in the basement of the building on Saturday afternoon. PIC/PTI
Five persons, including two children and an elderly woman, died of “asphyxiation” after a fire broke out in a four-storey building housing on Saturday a furniture shop in Nampally, officials said on Sunday.
“We got information that five people were missing. We were able to retrieve all the five bodies, including those of two boys and an elderly woman from different places within the cellar of the building on Sunday,” a senior police official said. The other two men, in their 30s, among the five deceased were from Hyderabad, and were workers in the building.
The two children, aged seven and 11, were sons of a security guard of the building, whose family was residing in the basement. The security guard, who hails from Nalgonda district of Telangana was away while his wife had also gone out for some work leaving the children at their accommodation at the time of the fire accident, they said.
Telangana Revenue Minister P Srinivas Reddy announced an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh to the kin of each of the deceased. Expressing grief over the deaths, he said that a thorough investigation will be conducted into the incident.
Telangana Fire, Disaster Response, Emergency and Civil Defence Department Director General Vikram Singh Mann said on Sunday that there was gross violation of the fire safety norms. Furniture, chemicals, plastics, rexine, cloth and foam mattress were among the materials stored in the two basements of the building besides families were provided accommodation there, he said, adding the cellars are meant only for parking.
Mann said they received a call at about 1.41 pm on Saturday and since then multiple agencies, including police, fire, NDRF personnel, and Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Protection Agency (HYDRAA), took part in the operations.
The approach to the basement was totally blocked due to the dumping of furniture and related raw materials, which made it difficult for rescue personnel to gain access, officials said. A case was registered against the shop owner, police added.
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