Hyderabad blaze: How narrow entrance to building spelt doom for victims
The entrance was engulfed with fire and smoke and the access to the first floor through the staircase was only one metre due to which the occupants were unable to escape
For the 17 people who perished in a blaze near the historic Charminar in Hyderabad on Sunday (May 18), the house located in a tunnel-like alley with a narrow entrance and staircase proved to be the death trap as it prevented them from escaping to safety.
The blaze, triggered by a suspected short circuit in a decades-old building (G+2) near Gulzar Houz on Sunday, killed 17 persons, including eight children. The youngest, Pradhan, was just one-and-a-half years old, while the others were aged between 2 and 4.
Narrow escape routes
Like many other buildings in the area, this one had only a single, narrow staircase — more like a tunnel. Only one or two people could pass at a time, making it hard for the fire personnel to access the upper floors. The fire was brought under control by 9 am, but by then, many had suffocated in the thick smoke.
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It took two hours and as many as 11 fire tenders to douse the fire, Telangana State Disaster Response and Fire Services Director General Y Nagi Reddy said, adding that rescue personnel had to wear oxygen masks to enter the blazing house.
“The entrance of the building which is narrow was engulfed with fire and smoke and the access to the first floor through the staircase was only one metre due to which the occupants were unable to escape. The building had only one entry of two metres, which is like a tunnel,” Reddy said.
Reddy said the occupants were sleeping when the fire broke out. He added that four people who were sleeping on the second floor were rescued using ladders.
Pankaj’s final call
Syed Iqbal, a local glassmaker, said he received a call from Pankaj Modi around 6.10 am, informing him about the fire and pleading for help. Iqbal, who knew the Modi family well, immediately called an ambulance and alerted the fire service.
Pankaj (38) somehow escaped the fire initially. As he looked around for help, he heard his wife and children’s cries and rushed back in — never to return. Iqbal confirmed he succumbed to the flames.
Among the dead were the local residents’ relatives who had come from Bengal to visit during their children’s summer holidays. All the victims belonged to a single extended family — the Modi family.
Officials suspect that an electrical short circuit triggered the fire, though the exact cause is yet to be ascertained.
Eyewitness account
Shortly after the fire broke out, Zahid, who is into bangles business in the Gulzar Houz area and an eyewitness of the fire incident told reporters that at around 6.10 am when he along with friends were passing by, a woman told them about the fire that erupted in the building and there were family members with children inside.
“As the main door of the building was engulfed in flames, we broke the shutter and also a wall and entered inside. As the blaze was high we went to the first floor. We found seven people in one room and six others in another room. We were not able to save them due to the fire. Had we saved them it would have been good,” he said.
The Osmania Hospital mortuary, where bodies from different hospitals were sent for autopsy, wore a grim look as relatives burst into tears in shock.
Minister visits site
Telangana Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar visited the site near Gulzar Houz and assured that all necessary help would be extended to the affected families.
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Chief Minister Revanth Reddy held a review meeting regarding the incident and ongoing rescue efforts. Deputy CM Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka declared ₹5 lakh compensation for the next of kin of the deceased. He later visited Osmania General Hospital along with Health Minister Damodar Rajanarasimha.
AIMIM chief and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi told reporters that the family has been residing there for 125 years, indicating that generations have been living there for over a century.
The family is said to be running one of the oldest jewellery shops in the city. “Now only two members of the family are left. I want to offer my condolences. I was informed by DG Fire Services that most of the deaths happened due to asphyxiation and fumes...let the report come, it is very painful,” he said.
(With inputs from The Federal Telangana and agencies)