Deccan Knitwear inferno: Fire brought under control after 10 hours; 3 persons missing

Secunderabad: It took firefighters 10 hours to douse the flames at the five-storeyed building on Ministers road, in Nallagutta, under the Ramgopalpet police station limits.

A massive fire broke out on the ground floor of the Deccan Knitwear Sports Shop building and spread to the other floors. On January 20, parts of the ground floor were still smoldering. A JNTU expert committee will inspect the area in the afternoon to examine the condition of the building.

The rescue teams are checking the inside situation with the help of drone cameras."We are checking floor-wise with a drone camera. Two floors are completely collapsed. Also, the expert teams for analyzing structure stability have visited and will submit the report soon", said, Hyderabad District Collector D Amoy Kumar.

Union Tourism and Culture Minister G.Kishan Reddy visited the spot on Friday morning to take stock of the situation. "With the vast development in Hyderabad, buildings are springing up fast. We ask the Telangana government to take serious action on the incident and check on the illegal run of warehouses in the city. All warehouses in a dangerous situation should be shifted to the outskirts. We will ensure the evacuated residents will be provided food and accommodation until the situation improves," Reddy said.

What happened?

The fire, which started in the cellar of the building around 10.30 am, quickly spread to the top floors. Rescue teams started dousing the flames with five fire tenders. Later 10 more tenders were rushed in. By evening, about 20 fire tenders from all over Secunderabad were trying to douse the flames. Four people were rescued by firefighters using a sky ladder. Two firefighters suffered injuries and were rushed to KIMS.

The ground and first floor had a sportswear fabric showroom. Tonnes of fabric was stored in the building. The building also had car accessories.

Case registered:

Ramgopalpeta police have registered an FIR against the owner of the Deccan Knit Wear Sports Shop. He is being questioned. "Three persons are missing. It is believed that they might have burnt alive in the mishap," said SHO Ramgopalpet, G Lingeshwar Rao.

According to the police, they have found missing persons' cell phone signals inside the building. The rescue teams tried search operations on the first floor. The three missing include Wasim, Junaid, and Jahed

Major Accident

DG of Telangana State Disaster Response and Fire Services Y Nagi Reddy said this has been one of the major fire accidents in Hyderabad so far. "We brought almost all the fire engine vehicles to Hyderabad and technically conducted rescue operations," said DG.

Officials suspect that there is a possibility of a short circuit that led to the mishap. And as the building housed huge stocks of rexine and other highly flammable materials, the fire spread fast

According to the DRF officials, the building pillars have weakened and might collapse anytime. The locals in the surrounding areas were evacuated to avoid casualties. Residents were told to take along gas cylinders from their houses.

Residential complex converted

According to the sources, this was a residential area from the 1940s to the 1980s. It was later converted into a commercial zone.

Deccan sports complex has been running since 2008. While registration was given for the G+4 building, another floor was constructed against norms. The five-storey building allegedly lacks fire safety norms, which the officials are checking into. It is said that the building owner took permission for a godown but had printing machinery inside the building.

The mall complex is a three-floor residential apartment and a commercial complex (max motors) on the other side. Behind the mall is Ramgopalapet basthi, which has a population of around 1000.

Brave Firefighters:

Two of the brave fire fighters who were injured during the rescue operations are under stable condition. V. Dhanunjaya Reddy, Assistant District Fire Officer Assembly and Narsing Rao, Driver Operator of Bronto Skylift Hydraulic platform vehicle, were admitted in KIMS hospital due to inhaling of smoke during the rescue operation. These two men have safely rescued three persons from the mishap.