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"I was on the third floor when I first noticed the smoke. It was around 7:30 pm. Some of my colleagues and I came out of the building immediately," said N Satyaiah, who works in a pharmaceutical company that runs out of Swapnalok Complex in Telangana's Secunderabad, where a massive fire broke out on the night of Thursday, 16 March.
"By the time we were out, flames had engulfed one portion of the building – the B block – which was at the rear side," he told The Quint.
"The fire broke out at around 7:20 pm. We managed to extinguish the fire completely by 2 am and rescue at least 12 people trapped in the building initially," Nagi Reddy told the media on the morning of Friday, 17 March.
The six others who were trapped inside were pulled out later and they died during treatment, most likely due to asphyxiation, he added.
A case was registered at Mahankali police station as well as by the Fire Services Department against the building authorities for violation of fire safety management.
As it was raining on Thursday evening – and there was heavy wind – the flames got stronger, said another eyewitness, B Brahmachari, who works at a Singapore-based MNC, which has an office in Swapnalok Complex.
Brahmachari claimed there were hardly any fire exits in the building, which is nearly three decades old. "This happened due to negligence in maintenance. The owners and tenants are least bothered about maintaining fire safety equipment," he alleged.
Eyewitnesses at the spot further told The Quint that they first saw smoke coming out of the eighth floor of the building, and from there, the flames spread to other floors.
The fifth floor was the most affected as there were combustible materials in one of the offices, they added. Those who died in the fire were trapped on the same floor.
Five of the six victims were undergoing treatment at Gandhi Hospital. They were all below 25 years of age.
Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, on Friday, announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the families of the deceased.
Though fire safety systems – like hydrants and sprinkers – were in place at Swapnalok Complex, they were poorly maintained and not operational, said Nagi Reddy.
"We [Fire Services Department] had inspected 2,000 buildings and establishments in Hyderabad recently, one of which was Swapnalok Complex. We had instructed them to take appropriate safety measures. But they didn't do anything about it," said DG Nagi Reddy.
But merely installing equipment is not enough, said Nagi Reddy.
"Individual owners and occupiers of the building should also take some responsibility in managing the equipment – not only the fire department, GHMC [Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation], or other government agencies," he said.
Incidentally, the fire broke out on the same day that the Fire Services Department held a meeting to discuss fire safety measures and ways to tackle fire-related mishaps in Hyderabad.
Venkat Ramana, who has been working in the building since 2007, told The Quint that the 2011-12 fire at Swapnalok Complex was minor compared to Thursday's mishap. "The first incident happened on the third floor, where I was working. But the damage was limited to property."
The fire at Swapnalok Complex is the fourth major fire in Secunderabad in recent times. In September 2022, eight people, including a woman staying in a hotel, were killed in a midnight fire that originated from an electric bike showroom located in Secunderabad.
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