Major Fire Breaks Out At Sports Store In Secunderabad

A massive fire broke out at the Deccan Nightwear Sports Shop located in Ramgopalpet on Minister's Road in Secunderabad today.

No casualties have been reported so far officially. However, the police suspect that a few persons are trapped in the building, and may have died. According to sources, some people were inside the building at the time of the fire, and four have been rescued. Rescue operations to trace the remaining people are underway.

Thick smoke covered the building and spread to neighbouring areas, hindering the firefighting operations. The fire tenders doused the flames once, but the fire restarted and more fire tenders were rushed to the spot to help contain the blaze. Heavy duty smoke exhausters available with the department were brought in to pump out the smoke, but even those proved to be of little help as the fire was in the upper floors of the building. The fire department and the GHMC DRF team took over six hours to douse the fire and bring the situation under control.

Speaking to the media, Y Nagi Reddy, DG, Telangana State Disaster Response and Fire Services, said, "This is one of the major fire accidents in Hyderabad. We have almost the entire fire department and GHMC on rescue operations. There is a possibility of a short circuit, and the fire is continuing due to rexin and other highly flammable materials."

"Two slabs of the building collapsed. It is said that there is plenty of resin and synthetic material inside the building. We are evacuating residents from the neighbouring buildings, to avoid any causalities," GHMC DRF chief Viswajit Kampati added.

"The teams could not control the fire immediately due to changes in the wind direction. The buildings pillars were also found to be weakened," said another DRF officer.

"A total of 22 fire engines were on rescue operations. We will also soon inquire about the situation," Home Minister Mohammed Mahmood Ali, who visited the spot, said.

The fire officials and police vacated the adjoining buildings as a precautionary measure.

The cause of the fire is not yet known.

Meanwhile, during the rescue operations, two fire officers reportedly got injured, and are being treated at KIMS.

Minister Talasani Srinivas Yadav too visited the spot and enquired about the incident.