Toll in fire accident in apartment building rises to 10; building owner held

Hyderabad: The toll in a major fire in a residential building in the Nampally area here on November 13 rose to ten, after a 17-year-old, who was injured in the accident succumbed to his injuries, police said on Saturday.

Ten people were found in an unconscious state in different floors of the apartment complex, which has ground and four upper floors and as smoke quickly engulfed the stairwell of the only available staircase, the inmates in the upper floors were not able to climb down and got trapped in smoke and fire which caused deaths, police and fire department officials had earlier said. Nine people belonging to two families were killed in the incident while the 17-year-old, who suffered over 70 per cent burns was admitted to a state-run hospital where he died on Friday evening, they said. The officials had said due to a "short circuit" the fire broke out initially in the stilt floor of the building, where chemicals in plastic drums and other flammable materials were stored in an unauthorised manner, before spreading to all upper floors vertically.

Meanwhile, the owner of the building, who had participated in the rescue efforts and was hospitalised after "inhaling smoke", was taken into custody after he was discharged from hospital on Friday, a police official said.

A case was registered at Nampally Police Station after a complaint was lodged against the building owner after he was accused of "illegally" storing the chemical drums and other flammable materials in the stilt area that caught fire. A total of 21 people, who were trapped on the different floors of the building as thick smoke spread over the building along with the flames, were rescued through staircase and extension ladders from the windows by the fire personnel