Hyderabad, March 17 (IANS) Six people were killed in a huge fire that broke out in a multi-storey building in Secunderabad here on Thursday night, officials said.
The deceased include four women. Seven others were rescued by fire service personnel.
Hyderabad District Collector Amoy Kumar said the victims died of suffocation due to the smoke.
The deceased, all stated to be in their 20s, succumbed at Gandhi Hospital. They hailed from Warangal, Mahabubabad, and Khammam districts and were said to be employees of a company operating out of the building.
After battling for four hours, fire fighting personnel controlled the fire which started from the third floor of Swapnalok Complex and spread to the upper floors of the eight-storey building, which houses offices.
Officials said the rescue work was still on as the smoke has not yet cleared.
Ten fire tenders rushed to the scene and were engaged in the fire-fighting operation.
Huge flames leaping out of the building, causing panic among people in the area. Police vacated residents staying in adjoining buildings.
According to locals, the fire broke out between 7.30 and 8 p.m. The cause of the fire was not known.
State minister T. Srinivas Yadav rushed to the spot and was monitoring rescue and relief work.
This is the second major fire accident in Secunderabad, the twin city of Hyderabad, in less than two months.
Three persons were killed in a huge fire at a multi-storey commercial complex on January 28. The building was completely gutted in the fire and it was later demolished by the authorities as the structure had become weak.
As India celebrates the 75th Independence Day with patriotic fervour and enthusiasm, police in the national capital have made stringent security arrangements, especially at the Red Fort, from where Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered his address to the nation.
An official statement quoting Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said Rs 295.60 crore was the pending arrears of sugarcane farmers which had to be paid by the government and cooperative sugar mills in the state.
A 25-year-old man was stabbed to death in full public view in the national capital, the police said on Friday. The deceased, identified as Mayank Panwar, was a hotel management student.
A senior Delhi Police official told IANS that on April 7, a case was registered at the Cyber Cell in which a fraudster impersonated as a senior government official using the WhatsApp display profile and the name of that dignitary and demanded financial favour in the shape of Amazon gift vouchers by pretending to be in trouble.
According to the Deputy Commissioner of Police from Punjab: "Extornist Sharif, alias Mazaralam Shaikh, had called up an Amritsar-based doctor demanding Rs 5 lakh as ransom. After introducing himself as Vicky Brar and a member of Lawrence Bishnoi and Goldy Brar, he had threatened to kill the doctor if the ransom money was not transferred into his account."
In less than 24 hours, police found the baby girl's parents, who were identified as Manjula and Sailesh Bajania. They admitted before the police that they buried the baby as it was premature birth, and since they were financially weak and feared medical expenses, they decided to bury her.
