Fire-ravaged Deccan Knitwear building collapses during demolition

Hyderabad: Six floors of the fire-ravaged Deccan Knitwear building in Secunderabad collapsed on 31 January while the building was being demolished. GHMC officials said there were no casualties as they had evacuated the neighboring residents. A few days ago engineers working on the site had said a substantial portion of the building had already been demolished and that they were carefully cutting beams and columns of the structure.

The complex was expected to be brought down by Sunday. However, due to the accumulation of debris, the demolition had to be halted till the debris was cleared from the ground.

The officials deemed that the structure was about to collapse anytime since the roof slabs and walls of the structure were partially caving in with iron and steel rods underneath the columns and beams seemingly melted. The multi-storey Deccan Knitwear Sports Accessories complex in Nallagutta was gutted in a major fire last week.

Six people were inside the building at the time of the fire; four of them were rescued. Three people lost their lives but their bodies were not found.