Six perish in massive blaze at Secunderabad’s Swapnalok Complex

The Fire Department personnel managed to rescue nearly 13 persons including a few women who were trapped in the Swapnalok Complex

Hyderabad: Six persons including four women were killed in a massive fire that broke out at Swapnalok Complex in Secunderabad on Thursday night. Out of the six, five died in Gandhi Hospital where they were shifted while one succumbed at a private hospital in Secunderabad.

The Fire Department personnel managed to rescue nearly 13 persons including a few women who were trapped in the commercial complex while efforts were on to rescue a few more who were feared trapped inside the building.

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According to the fire safety personnel, the fire started at around 7.45 pm in a room on one of the floors at the commercial complex. On noticing the flames, the occupants rushed out through the stairs while many others were trapped in their offices. Around 200 shops and offices are located in the multi-storied building complex. On receiving a distress call, the fire officials directed around five tenders including snorkels to the spot to douse the fire.

The blaze was brought largely under control an hour and a half after it broke out in the building. A few persons who were trapped on the fourth and fifth floors rushed towards the balconies and using mobile phone lights alerted the fire officials. Police deployed a fire snorkel truck to reach and bring them down.

On the information provided by those rescued about a few more including persons being trapped inside the building, fire personnel launched coordinated rescue operations by roping in personnel from various disaster management agencies including the fire department, GHMC Disaster Response Force, and local police.

Senior officials including Director, EV&DM GHMC, N Prakash Reddy, and other officials of the fire department entered the building to trace the persons feared trapped. As the building was covered with thick smoke, the officials sent personnel equipped with oxygen apparatus to the top floors.

Those rescued from the building were shifted to ambulances and later to hospitals for first aid as they complained of uneasiness. Animal Husbandry Minister T Srinivas Yadav reached the spot and interacted with officials from different emergency departments.

Hyderabad Mayor Gadwal Vijayalakshmi too reached the spot. She said the building was around 25 to 30 years old and an inspection would be done on Friday to find out if all necessary fire safety precautions were in place. The rescue operations were still on till the filing of the report.