Hyderabad: The owner of Batcha Furniture, Satish Batcha, has been arrested by Hyderabad police after a devastating fire at his shop in Nampally. The fire occurred on Saturday, January 24, and claimed five lives.
Assistant Commissioner of Police Praveen Kumar mentioned that a short circuit might have caused the fire. However, Director General Vikram Singh Mann from the Telangana Fire, Disaster Response, Emergency and Civil Defence Department informed PTI that the cellar, where the fire started, stored furniture, chemicals, plastics, rexine, cloth, and foam mattresses.
The cellar, intended for parking, also housed families. The fire’s victims included two workers in their 30s, two young sons of a security guard aged seven and 11, and a 60-year-old woman who worked as a sweeper and lived in the basement.
The children were alone when the fire began, as their parents were at work. The two workers tried to rescue the children and the elderly woman but couldn’t escape due to the fire’s intensity.
Authorities faced challenges during the rescue, which took over 20 hours because of thick smoke and blocked access. Furniture and raw materials obstructed the basement’s entrance, complicating rescue efforts. Firefighters used tenders, a skylift, and a firefighting robot to assist.
Telangana Revenue Minister P Srinivas Reddy expressed sorrow over the incident and announced an ex gratia payment of Rs 5 lakh to each victim’s family.
