At least nine people have died in a fire that broke out in the godown of a four-storied apartment complex in Bazarghat in Hyderabad's Nampally area. Several others have been injured in the incident.
Those who died in the fire were mostly tenants who lived on the first and second floors. Others who lived on the third and fourth floors have suffered injuries.
Seven of the deceased were reportedly from the same family. The deceased have been identified as Mohammad Azam (54), Mohammad Hasibur Rahman, Rehana Sultana (50), Dr Tahura Farheen (38), her children Tuba (5) and Taruba (12), Faiza Sameen (25), Zakir Hussain, and Nikkat Sultana.
As per reports, Dr Farjeen, who is a dentist, did not reside in the building and had come to visit her relatives with her children.
DCP Central K Venkateshwarlu told the media that five fire tenders had been deployed to bring the fire under control in the building.
Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao expressed deep shock over the incident.
How Did the Fire Spread?
The fire allegedly took place when oil and chemicals stored inside drums in the godown exploded, and the blaze quickly spread to the other floors as well.
The building's owner Ramesh Jaiswal is reportedly on the run. According to the Hyderabad Police, Jaiswal has chemical factories in other places in the city as well. He was using the ground floor of the building as a godown for oil drums and cans.
"Being a residential apartment, stilt floor is meant for parking. Instead, chemical tins and drums, F.R.P rolls, raw materials, polyester resin and related products were dumped/stored," the Telangana State Disaster Response and Fire Services department said.
"Even in the setbacks of the building, the above materials were dumped which led to quick spread of fire vertically, once ignition occurred and fire developed in the ground," the statement read.
"Smoke quickly engulfed the stairwell of the only available staircase. Inmates in the upper floors were not able to come down due to this and got trapped in smoke and fire which caused deaths," it added.
Early on Monday, another fire broke out at an electronics shop in Shalibanda. No casualties were reported and the fire was brought under control by emergency responders.
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