10 injured in another fire mishap in Hyderabad

Hyderabad, Feb 13: In yet another fire accident in Hyderabad, 10 workers were injured in a blaze at a private scrap godown late on Sunday night.

The incident occurred at Gaganpahad in Shamshabad on the outskirts of the city.

All the injured workers were from Uttar Pradesh. Two of them sustained critical injuries and were admitted to government-run Osmania Hospital.

Fire broke in godown around midnight after a sudden explosion when the workers were cleaning chemical bottles. Soon, flames engulfed the entire godown as inflammable goods including pharmaceutical chemicals, oil containers and plastic material caught the fire.

On receipt of information, fire tenders rushed to the scene and doused the fire after an hour-long operation.

Police believe that one of the workers was smoking while cleaning the chemical bottles and this could have led to a reaction with the combustible gases resulting in the explosion.

Officials said no fire safety measures were put in place. Police registered a case of negligence against the owner of the godown and took up investigation.

This is the sixth fire accident in godowns or commercial buildings in Hyderabad in less than a month. Three persons were killed in a huge fire at a multi-storey commercial complex in Secunderabad. The building was completely gutted in the fire and it was demolished by the authorities.

Following the series of fire accidents, authorities have warned that strict action would be taken against the owners of commercial buildings and warehouses not taking adequate fire safety measures and also against those running their operations in residential areas.