Furniture store fire toll mounts to 5; govt announces compensation

Hyderabad: Rescue workers retrieved five bodies on Sunday from the rubble of a furniture store that caught fire a day earlier, police said.

The bodies were found in the basement of a four-storey building and were shifted to Osmania General Hospital. The bodies were handed over to their families after the post-mortem examination.

The deceased were identified as Mohammed Imtiyaz (27), a worker at the store; Syed Habeeb (28), an auto trolley driver; Beban Bee (55); Akhil (11) and Praneet (7).

The two children were sons of watchman Yadaiah, who, along with his wife, had come out for some work. Yadaiah was earlier believed to be trapped in the fire.

The watchman’s family was living in the basement. Preliminary investigation by the authorities revealed that Imtiyaz and Habeeb had entered the cellar to rescue the three others trapped in the fire, but they too got trapped.

The families of the victims had been waiting near the spot with the hope of finding them alive. However, their hopes were dashed when the rescue team did not find any survivors.

Following a protest by the relatives of the deceased, the Telangana government announced Rs5 lakh ex gratia each for the families of the deceased.

Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy announced the ex gratia and assured all assistance to the families. Terming the incident as unfortunate, he said the negligence by the store owner led to the tragedy.

Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Protection Agency (HYDRAA), police, and firefighting personnel were continuing the rescue operation.