20220323 Hyderabad: 11 dead in fire at scrap godown in Bhoiguda
India Mar 23 2022 “Building” “Warehouses”
Dead : dead more than 10 Burnout : 1 to 29 Injured : injured 1 to 9
Hyderabad: 11 dead in fire at scrap godown in Bhoiguda
Updated: 2022-03-23
Most of the victims were migrant workers.
HYDERABAD: At least 11 people were killed in a fire at a scrap godown in Hyderabad’s Bhoiguda area early on Wednesday.
One of the workers who managed to escape from the godown was rushed to a hospital.
According to the police, 12 workers were asleep on the first floor of Shadwan traders’ scrap collection centre when the fire broke out on the ground floor.
The deceased were identified as, Sikinder alias Satyender Ram, son of Sukay Ram (40), Bittu Kumar, son of Vijay Ram (20), Pankaj Kumar, son of Om Prakash (19), Sikinder, son of Mahesh Ram (40), Damodar Mohan Das (25), Deepak, son of Devnath Ram (26), Gollu, son of Ramesh Ram (25), Durga Ram, son of Babulal Ram (25), Sintu (27), Rakesh (25) and Dinesh (35). The survivor was identified as Prem (25).
“The only way for the workers to get out was through the scrap shop in the ground floor whose shutter was closed,” M Rajesh Chandra, central zone DCP said.
The fire control room received an alert at around 3am and nine fire tenders worked for over three hours to douse the flames.
“One of the workers managed to come out of the building. He is undergoing treatment,” CV Anand, Hyderabad CP said.
The fibre cables at the godown caused thick smoke and prolonged the intensity of the fire.
“There were empty liquor bottles, paper, plastic, cable at the scrap godown. The first floor was connected to the ground floor through a spiral metal staircase. There were two rooms on the first floor and all the 11 bodies were recovered from one room lying on top of one another. The bodies were charred beyond recognition,” V Papaiah, a regional fire officer said.
Police said most of the victims were migrant workers. The victims’ bodies were sent for postmortem.
Victims were from Chapra in Bihar
City police commissioner CV Anand said that all the victims were from Chapra district of Bihar and they were working for a monthly salary of Rs 12,000 for two years.
“The victims were in their early and mid-twenties. At around 4am there seems to be a cylinder blast and we received a dial 100 call. Our night duty officers rushed to the spot along with fire department personnel. No one knows that workers were living here and the owner seems to have provided them accommodation on the first floor above the scrap godown. Several victims seem to have died due to smoke inhalation,” Anand said.
One of the workers managed to jump out of the godown and survived. Police are planning to speak to him to find out what has happened once they get a clearance from the doctors at the Gandhi Hospital.
“There are godowns, timber depots and iron depot and industrial safety aspect has to be verified in the locality,” commissioner CV Anand said.
Telangana CM announces Rs 5 lakh ex-gratia for victims’ kin
Chief minister K Chandrasekhara Rao has expressed shock over the loss of lives.
The chief minister has announced an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh each for the kin of the deceased.
The chief minister mourned the death of Bihar workers in the fire.
The chief minister directed CS Somesh Kumar to make arrangements for the repatriation of the migrant workers’ bodies to their native places.
Web Source: The Times of India