In a tragic incident, a major fire erupted at an electronic scrap godown at Shamsheergunj in Falaknuma on Saturday midnight. It took eight hours for the firefighters  to control the blaze. Firemen continued to control the fire on Sunday night as the scrap inside the three-storey building was burning.

The building is located in a thickly populated area due to which the firemen concentrated on controlling the fire from spreading to nearby areas. The fire department sends six fire tenders and 40 water tankers. Electronic gadgets worth lakhs and the entire building were destroyed in the fire. Firefighters could prevent casualties by containing the fire within the building, fire officials said.

The police are investigating whether the owner had permission to set up such a go down in a residential area. The owner, E. Nagesh, will be questioned by the police.

Police said "the fire started at 9.30 pm. Panicky residents alerted the police. First, we sent two fire tenders. However, it soon became clear that the fire was difficult to control. We called in two more fire tenders. However, the narrow lanes of Shamsheergunj made it difficult for fire tenders to aim at the burning building. After a few hours, the fire department sent two more fire tenders.  Meanwhile, police started evacuating houses to prevent casualties."

"There were four houses near the godown. We evacuated them first,” said ACP Abdul Bari.

He added "the people of Shamsheergunj spent a sleepless night standing outside their homes till the fire was controlled. A dozen families spent the night in temporary shelters and relatives houses. It is suspected that a short circuit caused the fire. The building had large quantities of inflammable material."

“There were old electronic gadgets inside the building. Scrap was stored on all the floors. That is why it was difficult to put out the fire,” said GHMC deputy mayor Baba Fasiuddin.

Also Read: 12 Newborn Babies Died in Iraq Hospital Fire

BY M. DIVYA SRI