Hyderabad building fire: Narrow staircase was only exit, family couldn’t escape flames | Hyderabad News
The burnt three-storied house in Gulzar Houz in Charminar
HYDERABAD: A major fire broke out early Sunday morning in a century-old three-story residential-cum-commercial building near Charminar’s Gulzar Houz area, claiming the lives of 17 people from the same family.
- The blaze began around 6.00am in the ground floor of the structure, which had only one narrow staircase serving as an exit.
- The family, who had gathered at their ancestral home for the weekend, became trapped as thick smoke and heat rapidly engulfed the upper floors, blocking the only access route.
- The fire department received a call at 6.16am and arrived on the scene within four minutes.
- By the time firefighters managed to break into the building through an adjacent shop’s shutter, nearly 30 minutes had already passed.
- The delay turned deadly, as the victims were already unresponsive when rescued.
- According to reports, the first responders were five men who had just stepped out for tea after morning Namaz.
- Alerted by two distressed women running for help, they rushed to the scene and attempted to assist before fire crews arrived.
- Despite the firefighters’ efforts to rush 17 victims to hospitals, all were declared dead on arrival. Some had suffered severe burns, while others died due to asphyxiation from the thick smoke.
- Fire officials suspect the blaze was triggered by a short circuit in the ground-floor shop.
The narrow staircase and lack of alternate escape routes critically hampered evacuation efforts, highlighting the hazards posed by aging buildings lacking modern safety measures.
