Hyderabad – A shocking fire in a mixed commercial and residential building at Gulzar Houz, Charminar Road, on Sunday morning claimed its 17th victim. In a city like Hyderabad, all victims were part grandparent-grandchildren chain of one prominent pearl-dealing family, the sheer scale of which juxtaposes such tragedy against the backdrop of critical urban fire safety issues.
An inferno was said to have engulfed the ground floor of a four-storey building, Sri Krishna Pearls, which has been a family business for generations, in the early hours (9 am) on Sunday. Initial investigations point to a short circuit being the probable ignition source of the fire. Quickly, the fire spread and smoke climbed above into the upper two stories where the family lived. Crowded by fast-spreading smoke and flames, there was only one reported way out for those trapped. Fire department officials said that the majority of the victims died from smoke inhalation, not burn injuries.
There were 17 fatalities, including at least eight children and elderly family members, such as the 70-year-old patriarch Prahlad Modi and his wife Munni. The victims were parents, children, and grandchildren, among them, some of whom were allegedly on summer vacation at their family home. The demise brings with it a large slice of an ancient family with its roots dating back around a century in the Gulzar Houz area, the commercial nerve center of the city’s pearl market.
It has not only claimed a number of victims from the fire, severe damage was caused by the fire in heritage property of a family.
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Firefighting teams and supported by police and the crowd, arrived at the scene to commence rescue work. Nevertheless, the narrow access into the building as well as its design made for massive complications around getting supplies to the people in rescue. Those on the first floor were able to either escape or were saved; those above, unfortunately, were entrapped. This incident has instantly made the issue of fire safety in older buildings located in such high-traffic commercial and residential areas like Gulzar Houz top-of-mind, creating a need for radical reforms to ensure the kind devastation in the future.
