Nampally fire mishap: Get-together turns tragic for family of 7

Seven of a family who got together for Diwali vacation die of suffocation in mishap

Hyderabad: Thahoora Farheen, a dentist by profession, would never have imagined that a visit to her parents’ house for Diwali vacation would cost lives of her family members.

Thahoora along with her daughters Mariyam and Yusra and son Talha had come to Bazaar Guard on Saturday to spend Diwali vacation at the house of her parents. Her husband Mukarram Ali, who is also a dentist, was staying at their house in Tolichowki.
“All of them were trapped in the flat when the thick smoke engulfed the building, and died due to suffocation,” said the police.

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On coming to know that his wife and children died in the fire accident, Mukarram rushed to the OGH mortuary and was crying inconsolably. While he was near the bodies of his wife and two daughters, another relative was standing tensed outside the ABC ward at OGH where Talha the only son of Thahoora was battling for life. He sustained over 70 per cent burns.

All the children in the family were bright in studies and wanted to become doctors and engineers. The parents especially the mother supervised their studies and ensured that they scored good marks in every exam.

Hasib-ur-Rahman, brother of Thahoora Begum, who was also killed in the incident, stayed along with his parents, and was blessed with a daughter last month. His wife along with the newborn was staying at her parents’ house in another part of Hyderabad. Hasib assisted his father in his business.

On coming to know about the news of Hasib’s death, his wife went into a state of shock.

Elderly couple trapped in thick smoke, dies

Sixty-seven-year-old Zakir Hussain lived along with his wife Nikhath Sultana, a school teacher, while their son recently went to the United States for higher studies.

The family was residing on the third floor of the building and were eventually trapped when thick smoke emanating poisonous fumes spread rapidly into the building leading to their death.

“A few local people rushed into the building and broke open the door. The bodies were found in the flat,” said Sajid, a local resident.

Relatives of Hussain reached the Osmania General Hospital mortuary after coming to know about the incident through news channel. “Initially we went to their house and came to mortuary after getting information about the deaths,” said Muzammil, a relative of Hussain.

‘No complaint on illegal storage’

Fire Department officials said a lot of combustible material including chemical drums was stored on the ground floor of the building and fire is suspected to have started there.

“There was no complaint against illegal storage in the building,” said an officer. The fire officials are investigating the incident.

was tragic and a terrifying scene

Screams of women, kids terrifying, say locals

“It was tragic and a terrifying scene. The screams of women and children, the sound of police vehicle sirens still echo in my ears,” says Wasifuddin, a youngster who stays in the building opposite the Balaji Enclave where the fire incident occurred.

The local people were the first to rush into the building and rescue some families. The building has two entrances and the fire was emanating from the left gate of the building and people entered into the building from the other gate and manage to rescue trapped residents.

Minutes later, the fire intensified and spread rapidly across the building. Several people tried to douse the fire by pumping water from household bore well pumps. “It did not help. No one could get closer to the building. Only after multiple fire tenders arrived that the fire was brought under control,” said Muzammil, a local witness.

Residents staying in the adjoining buildings were shifted out to safety following the fire. “We feared the fire would spread to adjoining buildings and evacuated the families. There was an electrical transformer in the opposite building and if it caught fire there would have been a disaster,” said another local resident.