Hyderabad police arrest building owner in Nampally fire tragedy that claimed 10 lives

The cops added that the accused continued storing the flammable chemicals — primarily in drums and cans — on the ground floor of the Balaji Residency despite repeated objections from the residents. That floor apparently functioned as an unauthorised warehouse.

Also read: Tent house storing crackers catches fire near Hyderabad’s Sun City

What happened before the incident?

As per the cops, the accused received 32 cans of resin chemicals — each weighing 35 kg — from Mathangi Plasticizer in Shad Nagar on the evening of 11 November, and stored them on the stilt floor.

“On 13 November, a massive fire broke out on the south side of the residential building, where the accused had stored the load,” said the police.

While the police believe that a short-circuit was the potential cause of the fire, the exact reason is yet to be determined by the Electricity Department, which conducted an inspection of the spot.

The police have since the fire seized 30 drums and 88 cans of resin chemicals stored in the building, samples of which have been later sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) for chemical examination. Two Digital Video Recorders (DVR) were also confiscated and sent to the FSL for data retrieval.

The police said the revelation of the actual source of the blaze would depend on the report from the FSL.

A case against Jaiswal was registered at the Nampally Police Stations under IPC Sections 304 (ii) (knowledge that death may be caused by a negligent act), 285 (negligent conduct concerning combustible matter), and 286, as well as Section9B (1) (b) of the Explosives Act.

#Hyderbad: At least 9 people, including seven of a family, were killed in an inferno in Hyderbad's Bazarghat.

The fire broke out while a car was being repaired in a garage located on the ground floor of the building. Several others were rescued as well. pic.twitter.com/42rCSF7J6d

— South First (@TheSouthfirst) November 13, 2023

Also read: Fire in 7 compartments of Hyderabad-bound Falaknuma Express

Sole survivor dies

After battling for life for five days, the sole survivor of the fire died on Friday The doctors said the teen, identified as Mohammed Talha, was undergoing treatment at the Acute Burns Care (ABC) unit of the Osmania General Hospital (OGH) when he passed away around 5.30 pm.

With the death of Talha, who the OGH doctors said had sustained over 75 percent burns in the incident, the toll from the fire reached 10, including the seven others from his family.

“We had put him on the high-oxygen cylinder. He had burns all over his body. It was over 75 percent, so the chances of him surviving since the beginning were very low,” OGH Superintendent Dr B Nagendra told South First earlier.

The deceased from Talha’s family included his grandparents Mohammed Azam (58) and Rehana Sultana (50), aunts Thahoora Fareen (35) and Faiza Sameen (26), and uncle Hasib-ur-Rahman (32). Two of his cousins — Tarooba (13), and Tooba (6) — also lost their lives in the fire mishap.

Another couple, Mohammed Zakeer Hussain (66) and Nikath Sultana (55), also lost their lives. The police said asphyxiation caused the deaths.

The chemical substance inside the drums fuelled the fire that spread to the upper floors around 9.40 am on that fateful day, trapping the residents of the second and third floors in the five-storey building.

Related: Toll hits 10 as family’s lone survivor in Nampally fire succumbs

Eyewitness account

Jayprakash, who works in a neighbourhood garment shop, told South First earlier, “We exchanged Deepavali greetings with residents living on the second floor. We usually wake up early and after seeing the fire, we used a ladder that my brother brought to escape from the balcony. My mother sustained minor injuries in the incident.”

He added that the residents had reached a consensus earlier in the society that oil drums could not be stored on the apartment premises.

Another neighbour, Soundaryam, a retired teacher of Stanley School, told South First, “It was a small fire at first. We were calling an ambulance. In the meantime, it (the fire) grew and spread upwards. Due to the smoke, it was dark by then and nothing was visible. Family members of two families have died in the accident.”

She added: “I never knew the families personally, they might have spoken to me because retirement I generally sit at home and don’t go out.”

She also said that the owner (Jaiswal) never bothered to shift his godown even after residents urged him to do so.

“He used to give excuses that he would vacate the godown and shift it somewhere. Even in the lane, you can see several boxes stored. They all belong to them (the godown owner). Later, they rented the space below us and stored them there as well. My son has had to work from home, so he used to get disturbed. I asked the owner how running a godown could be allowed there. He would say he would ‘shift it’,” she said.