No oxygen, no CPR? Plea in Telangana HC flags serious lapses in emergency response to Gulzar Houz fire

Hyderabad: A plea about the Gulzar Houz fire in the Telangana High Court claimed ‘gross incompetency and negligence’ on the part of the State government in providing adequate emergency services.

The petitioner, on Thursday, alleged that the ambulance at the incident had no oxygen cylinders and that the medical staff failed to do even cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on the victims of the fire.

The deadly fire accident at Gulzar Houz on May 18, 2025, claimed 17 lives.

The Division Bench, comprising Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice Ghouse Meera Mohiuddin, took up the matter based on a letter, dated May 26, 2025, submitted by one Santosh Gupta, a resident of Hyderabad.

The matter was thereafter adjourned for four weeks to enable the State Government to obtain and file instructions.

‘Gross incompetency and negligence’

The letter turned PIL was precipitated by the petitioner’s personal tragedy. Santosh Gupta lost his daughter and 16 other family members in the fire that engulfed Gulzar House.

In his communication to the Chief Justice, the petitioner has alleged gross incompetency, negligence, and a critical absence of requisite tools and equipment in the fire engines and ambulances that responded to the emergency.

Fire engine and the ambulance arrived half hour late

According to the petitioner, he and his sister placed emergency calls to the Fire Service helpline (101), the Police helpline (100), and the Ambulance helpline (108) between 6:12 am and 6:16 am on the date of the incident.

A single fire engine and one ambulance arrived at the scene at 6:45 am.

The petitioner contends that the fire engine was entirely ill-equipped, carrying no water and no oxygen masks and that fire department personnel were unwilling to enter the burning premises. The fire engine was also alleged to be in an un-serviceable condition. It is further contended that it was the intervention of civilians, rather than the fire department, that made possible the rescue of persons trapped in the blaze.

‘Ambulance did not have oxygen cylinders’

The petitioner has additionally alleged that the ambulance that responded to the emergency carried no oxygen cylinders, and that the medical staff on board failed to administer even the most basic life-saving measures, including cardiopulmonary resuscitation, to the victims.

Of the eight survivors who were eventually rescued through the collective efforts of civilians and fire department officials and subsequently shifted to Yashoda Hospital, Malakpet, all eight succumbed to their injuries.

The petitioner attributes these deaths directly to the delay and negligence of the fire department and medical personnel.

What did the govt say?

The contentions of the petitioner are, however, disputed by the Director General of Fire Services, Nagi Reddy, IPS, who has asserted that the fire engines deployed to the scene were fully equipped at the time of their dispatch.