Secunderabad: Locals panic as smoke engulfs locality

Several families leave homes and rush out

Hyderabad: A thick column of black smoke that rose from the fire-hit commercial complex at Minister’s Road, Secunderabad, spread panic in the abutting residential and business areas on Thursday.

Initially, as the fire broke out and locals gathered around, most thought it would be doused in no time. However, as it kept raging despite the best efforts of the fire personnel and plumes of smoke started to spread, the locals panicked. Several families noticing the ferocity of the smoke left their homes and rushed out.

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“All of a sudden we saw thick black smoke and we thought we will suffocate to death today. Then, the police came and asked us to rush out of our houses. The smoke had engulfed the entire neighbourhood and we could not pick up anything and just ran to save our lives,” recalled Lakshmi, a resident of Bhoi Basthi.

A few hundred families staying in around three slums were asked to shift out and the power supply in the area too was disconnected. Rasheeda Begum, a housewife from Vengalrao Nagar, along with her children went to Tank Bund where they waited till the smoke started to subside. “I had never seen such a thing in my life. My husband was not at home, so I just took my children and rushed out for safety,” she said.

The smoke spread to other nearby areas also and residents even in Ranigunj, Park Lane, Parade Grounds, Prakash Nagar were seen covering their faces.

According to the locals, on the first floor women stitched sportswear like T-shirts and track pants while printing work was done on the ground floor. On the upper floors, some residential portions were being constructed. Around 14 people, mostly women, work there. The police had barricaded the roads leading to the incident spot resulting in traffic slowdown on the alternate routes. Senior officials of the fire, police, revenue, and GHMC had visited the spot and were seen supervising the fire-fighting and traffic management.