Death toll increases from 6 to 9 in Bazarghat fire incident

Nine members from two families residing in the first floor of a four-storey apartment building in Red Hills of Bazarghat, died of asphyxiation, while 16 others suffered burns, when a blaze reportedly sparked by crackers and fuelled by chemicals broke out in the basement and engulfed the building fire and thick smoke on Monday morning.

Rescuers pulled out a total of 21 persons from the building, including those who died. Around 40 people involved in rescue operations also suffered minor injuries, blisters and burns, while handling the chemicals.

Sources said the fire broke out at 8.40 am when a firecracker reportedly struck two cans of chemicals placed at the gate of Balaji Residency, popularly known as Laddu Towers. The chemicals, mostly used in the construction sector, caught fire and spread to hundreds of similar cans placed in the basement of the building.

A call was received by the Fire Control Room at 9.34 am and fire tenders were rushed to the area and extinguished the blaze. Officials were finding out the reason for the delay of nearly an hour before the fire brigade was notified

The entire lane was rendered slushy with water from the fire-fighting operations and what is suspected to be chemicals leaking from the cans. The distinctive blue cans that rescuers pulled out from the burning building as well as burnt chassis from vehicles lay strewn all over the lane.

The police booked the apartment owner Ramesh Jaiswal, who had stored the chemicals in the building under the Explosives Act and IPC sections of death due to negligence and culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

Jaiswal, who owns Sri Balaji Enterprises, was in a hospital reportedly undergoing treatment for a heart stroke and would be arrested after making a recovery.

Witnesses said that within 20 minutes of the firecracker bursting, the apartment was engulfed in a blaze, trapping residents of the first and second floors of the four-storeyed building. Residents were unable to escape as staircases were also ablaze, they said.

One of the eyewitnesses



said that  "I was inside getting ready when I heard a loud cracker explosion in front of my house. I suspect the cracker struck two blue cans filled with chemicals that were placed before the gate of Balaji Residency, just a few feet from other chemicals stored in bulk in the basement." Fire officials are examining what caused the fire.

Locals and passersby were among the first rescuers. "Panic struck when locals heard people screaming and shouting. As there was hardly a chance to enter into the building from the front side, we went into an adjacent house and jumped into Balaji Residency. We covered ourselves with handkerchiefs and along with firefighters, managed to enter the fourth, third and second floors after breaking the main doors."

Over 60 firefighters, along with the locals and seven fire tenders, were engaged in the rescue operation, with seven teams working under Secunderabad DFO Madhusudhan Reddy and Charminar DFO Srinivas Reddy.

While two teams engaged in extinguishing the fire, the others entered the apartments to rescue the residents.

Another family residing on the first floor, Mirza Yousuf Baig, his wife Shaheena Baig, and their sons Mirza Yasar Baig and infant Yaser, were rescued by the firefighters.

After gaining access to the apartment through Baig’s flat, firefighters rescued 14 occupants from the second and third floors. They were all subsequently sent to the hospital for treatment.

"We are trained to act during such emergencies. We have masks to protect ourselves and requested civilians not to enter the building, but they risked their lives along with us to rescue the trapped people and also bodies," a firefighter said.

The deceased were identified as businessman Mohd Azam, 57, his wife Rehana Sultana, 50, their children Tahura Farheen, 35, dentist, Hasibur Rehman, 32, pharmacist; Faiza Sameena, 26, nutritionist and Farheen’s daughters Taroba, 13 and Manha, 6, all members of one family and Dr Mohd Zakeer Hussain, 66, and his wife Nikat Sultana, 50, teacher.