Hyderabad Fire: Relatives Blame delayed Ambulance Arrival, Lack Of Oxygen Masks For 17 Deaths

A tragic fire early Sunday morning at Gulzar House, a pearl shop near Charminar, claimed the lives of 17 people, including eight children. The blaze broke out at around 6:16 AM in the ground floor of the G+2 building and rapidly spread to the upper floors, engulfing the entire structure.

Eyewitness Zahid recounted the harrowing moments, saying, "We could not enter the building through the main gate as it was engulfed in flames, so we broke the shutter to go inside. Then 5-6 of us broke through a wall and entered the first floor. But the whole place was completely engulfed in flames. The police and fire tenders did good work and cooperated fully. But we could not save the people because of the massive fire... The fire was mainly located at the back of the house, and there was no back door to get to that... All the deceased were part of the same family... Yes, the fire tenders were a bit late, but the fire was too massive to enter the first floor..."

Relatives of the victims gathered at Osmania Hospital expressed their grief and frustration, blaming the delayed arrival of ambulances and a shortage of oxygen masks for the loss of lives. Some relatives also voiced their regret over voting for Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, holding the government responsible for the emergency response shortcomings.

The Telangana Fire Disaster Response Emergency And Civil Defence confirmed that 23 firefighting, search, and rescue operations were carried out simultaneously by the Moghalpura water tender crew and other teams who rushed to the scene.

The victims have been identified as:
Prahlad (70), Munni (70), Rajendar Modi (65), Sumitra (60), Hamey (7), Abhishek (31), Sheetal (35), Priyansh (4), Iraaj (2), Arushi (3), Rishabh (4), Pratham (1.5), Anuyan (3), Varsha (35), Pankaj (36), Rajini (32), and Iddu (4).

Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolences via a post on X, stating, "Deeply anguished by the loss of lives due to a fire tragedy in Hyderabad, Telangana. Condolences to those who have lost their loved ones. May the injured recover soon."

The cause of the fire is yet to be determined, and investigations are underway. The community mourns the loss of an entire family in this heartbreaking tragedy.

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