Secunderabad inferno: Owners of Ruby Motors, Ruby Lodge booked; bike charging in cellar caused fire

Hyderabad: Police have booked owners of Ruby Motors and Ruby Lodge after eight people were killed and seven others injured in a fire incident at Secunderabad.

An FIR has been registered against Ranjith Singh Bagga and his two sons at Secunderabad Market police station.

Police suspect that there were 40 electric bikes parked in the cellar and all of them were being charged at the same time. All the bikes have been reduced to ashes.

The charging of the bikes is suspected to be the cause of the fire.

Minister Talasani Srinivas Yadav and home minister Mahmood Ali visited the site late at night. Market police station SHO Y Nageshwar Rao said a case has been booked against the owners of the electric bike showroom and the lodge.

Violations in the construction of the building have also been noted. Against the permitted 15 meters (approximate 49 feet), the owners raised the slab to 17.5 meters (57 feet)

There were 50 fire officials who rushed inside the building and found that only one staircase was being operational. The other had been shut. The smoke engulfed the rooms soon and it was difficult for the fire personnel to carry out the rescue operations.

This is being seen as the reason for some people to jump from the building. Small businessmen from different cities were staying at the lodge. The businessmen were on a business trip to Telangana.

Telangana Fire Safety Director General Sanjay Kumar said that the deaths happened due to people inhaling smoke and not because of the fire or the injuries or due to jumping off from the building.

Meanwhile, electric scooter company Gemopai shared their grief on Twitter. "It is a very unfortuante incident and we are deeply saddened by the loss of lives. Our teams, from Telangana and Delhi have rushed to the incident site and are investigating the root cause of fire. We are cooperating and working with the local authorities and awaiting a report on the same," they wrote.