Secunderabad fire: 8 dead after massive blaze breaks out in e-bike showroom, spreads to hotel
PM Narendra Modi has announced an aid of Rs 50,000 to the injured, while Telangana Home Minister M M Ali has declared ex-gratia of Rs 3 lakh to the kin of each deceased individual.
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Initial inquiries found that the fire started from the cellar where 40 electric bikes were parked. (Express Photo)Eight persons died of suffocation and one person has been critically injured after a fire broke out at Ruby Motors and Ruby Pride Luxury Hotel building near the passport office in Telangana’s Secunderabad late Monday night. Deputy Commissioner of Police (North Zone) Deepthi Chandana said officials suspect that the fire occurred due to an explosion either in an electrical scooter or a generator in the Ruby Motors showroom which is on the ground floor of the building.
The hotel is situated on the top five floors of the building and has 28 rooms. As many as 25 guests were present when the fire broke out around 10 pm, officers said. The police said that for the last one year, the owners of Ruby Motors – Rajender Singh Bugga and Sumeet Singh – were running the e-bike business illegally from the cellar of the building where the explosion occurred.
Hyderabad Police and members of their Clues team at the site after a fire broke out in an electric bike showroom on Monday, in Secundrabad. (PTI)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expressed grief over the incident. “Saddened by the loss of lives due to a fire in Secunderabad, Telangana. Condolences to the bereaved families. May the injured recover soon. Rs 2 lakh from PMNRF would be paid to the next of kin of each deceased. Rs 50,000 would be paid to the injured,” PM Modi tweeted. Telangana Home Minister M M Ali announced ex-gratia of Rs 3 lakh each to the kin of the deceased.
Officials said six hotel guests and four hotel employees first noticed the fire and smoke and escaped from the fifth floor of the hotel to the adjacent Yatri Inn Hotel, and alerted the authorities. While eight guests, including a woman, died due to suffocation and smoke inhalation, 10 were injured. The condition of Jayanth K, 39, of Bangalore who is in the ICU at the nearby Apollo Hospital is critical, officials said.
Fire services and police personnel at the site after a fire broke out in an electric bike showroom on Monday, in Secundrabad on Tuesday. (PTI)
A case has been registered against the owners of Ruby Motors and Ruby Hotel under IPC sections 304 (II) (knowledge that death may be caused by an act), 324 (causing hurt by dangerous means) and section 9 B of the Explosives Act, 1884.
The deceased have been identified as Alladi Harish, 33, of Vijayawada; Seetharaman Swamy, 48, from Chennai; Veerender Kumar Devakar, 50, from Delhi; Balaji Navaneetha Krishnan, 58, auditor of Achi Masala Food Pvt Ltd in Chennai; Rajeev Malik and Sandeep Malik from Pitampura, New Delhi; Chandan Jethi from Cuttack, Odisha; and Mithali Mahapatra, 29, from Santhasarapur village in Odisha’s Balasor.
Around 40 plus electric bikes were in the cellar of the building. (Express Photo)
DCP Chandana said when the police reached the spot, the showroom and the hotel were engulfed in thick smoke. “First responders and firefighters were able to rescue a few persons using ladders. Some rescuers went up the stairs and brought down at least six persons who were unconscious. They had collapsed near the staircase due to smoke inhalation. All the electric bikes in the showroom were gutted,” she said.
The rescue operation conducted on Monday night. (PTI)
Minister T Srinivas Yadav too visited the spot and said that the best treatment was being provided to the injured at top private hospitals – Apollo and Yashoda – and said the government will take care of the expenses of the injured until they are discharged.
The post-mortem of the deceased is being performed at Gandhi Hospital. The minister said that the government will also take care of the transportation of the bodies to their native places. Union Minister G Kishan Reddy, who visited the spot, demanded a thorough probe into the incident and sought to punish those found guilty.
Saddened by the loss of lives due to a fire in Secunderabad, Telangana. Condolences to the bereaved families. May the injured recover soon. Rs. 2 lakh from PMNRF would be paid to the next of kin of each deceased. Rs. 50,000 would be paid to the injured: PM @narendramodi
— PMO India (@PMOIndia) September 13, 2022
On March 23 this year, eleven migrant workers from Bihar’s Saran district died in a fire that broke out at a timber and scrap godown in Secunderabad’s Bhoiguda in the early hours. The fire started due to an electric fault and spread to the first floor where 12 migrants stayed in two rooms.
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