Minister’s Road fire accident: Search operation for missing persons continues

Search operations to trace the missing persons continued on Sunday at the commercial complex at Minister's Road which was engulfed in massive fire

Hyderabad: For the fourth consecutive day, the search operations to trace the missing persons continued on Sunday at the commercial complex at Minister’s Road which was engulfed in massive fire on Thursday.

Three persons have been reported missing in the fire hit building and one charred skeletal remains were traced and retrieved from the site on Saturday. The search for the other two persons continued today with the personnel of Telangana State Disaster Response & Fire Services (TSDRF) entering the structure which has been rendered unsafe from the massive fire that raged for hours.

Floor by floor, the fire rescue teams who were accompanied by personnel of GHMC’s Enforcement Vigilance & Disaster Management (EV&DM) and the police, tried to cover the building today.

Around afternoon, the slab located on the rear end of the structure collapsed. This resulted in reigniting minor fire in the cellar which was immediately doused by the fire fighters. Some vulnerable portions of the shaky building too were carefully pulled down by the teams to prevent any unforeseen incidents during the search operation.

A fire department official said they were yet to ascertain whether the fire broke out due to short circuit.

Officials also took precautionary measures at the Deccan Knitwear Sports Accessories building and apart from barricading the area, put up a caution notice and deployed staff to prevent people from going near the building.

Meanwhile, GHMC officials said that, they have already received the report from the National Institute of Technology (NIT), Warangal, regarding the structural stability of the building and were awaiting another report from a technical team related to structure.

“Based on the report submitted by the NIT and technical team, necessary action will be initiated. It can either be partial demolition or complete demolition of the structure,” said a GHMC official.

Rehabilitation camp set up 

A rehabilitation camp has been set up by the Hyderabad District Collectorate for people who were evacuated from their homes near the fire hit commercial complex in Minister’s Road.

When fire and smoke engulfed the building on Thursday, officials had asked those residing in dwellings located close to the site, to move out as a precautionary measure. They were relocated in a camp and being provided three meals a day and a medical camp was also set up for them.

Since the fire fighting and rescue operation involving teams from fire, police, GHMC and other departments turned out to be a long drawn affair, even the personnel posted at the site were being provided meals at the camp.