Hyderabad: The death toll in the massive fire that broke out at Gulzar House near Charminar in the early hours of Sunday has tragically risen to 17.
According to the Telangana State Disaster Response and Fire Services Department, the fire was reported at 6:16 AM at a G+2 building located at Gulzar House Chowrasta, Charminar. A water tender and crew from the Moghalpura fire station were the first to respond. The fire originated on the ground floor and quickly spread to the upper floors.
Simultaneous firefighting, search, and rescue operations were launched. Seventeen individuals who were trapped on the first floor were rescued by fire department personnel and shifted to hospitals for treatment. To overcome access limitations and expedite the rescue, assistance was requested from additional fire stations. A total of 12 fire appliances responded to the scene.
In all, 11 firefighting vehicles, one advanced fire-fighting robot, 17 fire officers, and 70 personnel were deployed in the operation. It took approximately two hours to bring the blaze under control. The Bronto Skylift hydraulic platform and fire robot played a critical role in the operation.
The cause of the fire is currently under investigation. The value of the property damage is yet to be assessed.
The deceased were identified as Prahlad (70), Munni (70), Rajendar Modi (65), Sumitra (60), Hamey (7), Abhishek (31), Sheetal (35), Priyansh (4), Iraaj (2), Arushi (3), Rishabh (4), Pratham (1.5 years), Anuyan (3), Varsha (35), Pankaj (36) Rajini (32) and Iddu (4)
Minister Ponnam Prabhakar visited the site and gathered details from Fire Department Director General Nagi Reddy and South Zone DCP Sneha Mishra. He stated that the fire alert was received at 0616 hours and the teams responded promptly. Though many victims were critically injured by the time help arrived, the swift response helped prevent further loss of life. He assured that a full investigation would be conducted and confirmed that preliminary findings indicated it was an accident with no foul play suspected.
Union Minister G Kishan Reddy also visited the site and met with the victims’ families, offering his condolences and assuring them of all necessary support from both the state and central governments.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolences via X (formerly Twitter), stating he was deeply anguished by the tragic loss of lives. He announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF) to the next of kin of each deceased and Rs 50,000 for the injured.