8 kids among 17 killed in Hyd building blaze

FIRE BROKE OUT IN ONE OF THE SHOPS ON THE GROUND FLOOR OF THE THREE-STOREY BUILDING AND QUICKLY SPREAD

- Srinivasa Rao Apparasu

Seventeen members of a family, including eight children aged between one and a half and seven years, were killed and four others injured after a fire broke out in a three-story building near the iconic Charminar in Hyderabad on Sunday morning, officials aware of the matter said.

The building, located in a narrow alley in the Gulzar House area part of Hyderabad's Old City housed two jewellery shops on the ground floor and residences on the first and second floors, the officials added. They said that the fire broke out in one of the shops, Krishna Pearls, at around 6.15am due to a short circuit, and quickly spread. The ground floor was empty at the time of the incident, but there were 21 people on the other two floors, according to officials.

"We received a call at around 6.16am and immediately dispatched 11 fire engines with sufficient staff. According to information, 17 people could not survive. The deaths were due to asphyxiation.

Preliminary examination shows that the cause of the fire was a short circuit," director general of fire services Y Nagi Reddy said. Four other occupants of the building survived with minor injuries, officials said.