Five Bodies Recovered as Massive Fire Rages Hyderabad’s Nampally Furniture Shop, Strict Action To be Taken Against Owner

Hyderabad: In a major development, rescue teams have recovered the bodies of five people who were trapped in a fire at a furniture shop in Nampally, Hyderabad. The bodies have been shifted to Osmania Hospital for post-mortem examination.

The victims have been identified as Baby Gulbarga (a female watchman), Imtiaz Habib, and two children (Akhil and Praneeth). The fire, which broke out on Saturday, was brought under control after 20 hours, but the intense heat and smoke made rescue operations challenging.

"As we were informed yesterday, five people were trapped. So we have recovered all five bodies. The first body was recovered this morning at around 9:15, and just now, the fifth body has also been recovered. All the bodies have been sent to Osmania Hospital," Telangana Fire DG Vikram Singh Mann confirmed.

Strict Action be Taken Against Owners

Further, Telangana Fire DG Vikram Singh Mann termed the incident a "clear case of criminal negligence", adding that strict action would be initiated against the building owner. A team of Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU) engineering experts has also been sent to examine the condition of the building, which was completely gutted in the fire.

Authorities said firefighting teams, along with police and other agencies, including the Hyderabad Disaster Response and Assets Monitoring and Protection Agency, the Disaster Response Force, and the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, have been working around the clock since the fire broke out.

Meanwhile, Telangana Minister Ponnam Prabhakar expressed shock and grief over the incident and condoled the deaths. He said the matter has been brought to the notice of Chief Minister Revanth Reddy and assured support to the affected families.

Prabhakar directed the police to register criminal cases against the shop owner for violating fire safety norms. He also instructed officials from the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), police, revenue department and HYDRA to coordinate and take steps to prevent such incidents in the future. 

Appealing to the public, the minister urged citizens to report buildings that do not comply with fire safety regulations.

What led to the incident? 

A massive fire broke out at a furniture shop in Hyderabad’s Nampally area, triggering panic in the area. The blaze reportedly started at the Bacha Furniture store, located along Cheerap Gali near Kamath Hotel, and it was first noticed on the ground floor of the four-storey structure as the flames spread rapidly to the upper floors, further fuelled by combustible material inside the shop, filling the building with dense smoke within minutes.

Explaining the circumstances that led to the tragedy, DG Mann said the victims were workers who had been provided accommodation in the building's basement. 

"They were working here and were given accommodation in the basement. So two of them were trying to rescue the others. But unfortunately, they also got trapped. This basement is only meant for parking vehicles," he said.

Mann said the rescue and firefighting operations were delayed as the basement was packed with highly flammable material. 

"One of the reasons why it took us so much time to clear the area, extinguish the fire and recover the bodies is that this entire basement was filled with all kinds of materials. It was highly flammable. Despite all this, by using maximum resources and equipment, we managed to extinguish the fire and bring these people out," he said.