HYDERABAD: Constable B Sravan Kumar deputed to the Punjagutta Traffic Police station saved a woman and child, who were trapped in a building which was on fire, in Punjagutta on Saturday. Risking his life, he jumped onto the flat where the woman and her child were stuck and brought them out safely.
“I am happy that the mother and child are safe despite being caught in thick smoke for a long time. But I don’t think I have done a great job. As police personnel, we are, time and again, told that public safety should be top priority and I just did my duty. I am thankful to my superiors for constantly encouraging us,” Sravan Kumar told Express. The woman, Malleshwari, and her child Mounika, thanked Sravan for saving them.
On Saturday afternoon, Sravan Kumar was on patrol duty. On the wireless set, he received information about a fire in a residential building near NFC X roads. As the location fell under his area, he rushed to the spot.
When he arrived, the building was engulfed in thick smoke and flames were spreading rapidly. Sravan joined locals in trying to control the fire when he heard the screams of a child. Without wasting a moment, he climbed over the neighbouring building and jumped into the terrace of the building which was on fire.
“Even on the terrace, there was thick smoke. I saw a water storage tanker on the terrace and toppled it. As a result, water entered the building putting off the fire. This gave me a route to enter the building,” added Sravan.
When he entered the fourth floor, he saw a woman and her child crying for help since they could barely breathe. “ I brought them back to the terrace, shifted them to the adjacent building safely. Along with locals, a puncture shop person also helped me in bringing them out safely,” he said.
Sravan did not wait for instructions from superiors or for the fire tenders. “I did not have time. I jumped in with the aim of rescuing the child and thank God I could bring them out safely,” said Sravan.
It was learnt that a few abandoned tyres lying on the terrace of the building caught fire which spread. A little later, fire tenders also rushed to the spot and doused the fire.
Quick on his feet
Constable Sravan Kumar did not think twice about jumping on to a building on fire when he heard a child’s cry for help. With some quick thinking, he poured water from a storage tanker, which managed to diminish the flames. Later, he escorted both the girl and her mother to safety.