HYDERABAD: Prompt action by fire department personnel ensured that all the 14 people trapped in a four-storey building at Khajaguda Crossroad were rescued unharmed from the flames that broke out on Saturday. Using a high-rise ladder, firefighters rescued the seven men and as many females who had climbed up to the terrace to escape the dense smoke and rising flames that broke out at about 10.30 am in the second floor of the Hi-Mark Chambers under Raidurgam police station limits.
District Fire Officer S. Sreedhar Reddy said that as soon as the information was received, firefighters from Madhapur and Filmnagar reached the spot with five fire tenders and two sky lifts.“The smoke spread from the second floor to the upper floors making visibility difficult. The 14 people who were present in the security agency office at that time rushed to the terrace using the staircase and were safely rescued with the help of the sky lifts,” Sreedhar Reddy said.
While the sky lifts were in action, firefighters wearing Breathing Operator Sets and using lights and oxygen tanks doused the flames. They entered the building breaking the glass panes on the second floor, Sreedhar Reddy revealed.
Raidurgam Circle Inspector N Tirupathi told Express: “The incident took place at 10.30 am on Saturday in the second floor of Hi-Mark Chambers. The building houses the Green Spicy Bawarchi restaurant on the ground floor, two software companies on the first and third floors, while the second floor is occupied by Infrability Solutions and a security agency Action Guarding Services. The security agency also has its office on the fourth floor of the building.”
Cause still unknown
The fire is believed to have started in the office of the security agency after a wall-mounted fan overheated and fell on the carpeted floor. However, the official version was that an investigation was on to ascertain the cause.