11 Bihar workers charred to death in Hyderabad fire accident
Darpan News Desk IANS, 23 Mar, 2022 11:12 AM
Hyderabad, March 23 (IANS) Eleven migrant workers from Bihar were charred to death in a huge fire that broke out at a scrap godown in Secunderabad here early Wednesday, police said.
The incident occurred in the godown in IDH Colony of Bhoiguda area in Secunderabad around 4 a.m.
Police said one person managed to jump out of the fire and he was rushed to Gandhi Hospital. Others trapped in the fire due to heavy smoke were burnt alive.
All the victims were migrant workers from Chapra district Bihar and were asleep when the fire broke out. Barring one, the rest were between 23 and 35 years of age.
The fire was doused with the help of five fire tenders which rushed to the scene from different areas. Short circuit is suspected to have caused the fire.
Hyderabad Police Commissioner C. V. Anand said the workers were asleep in rooms on the first while scrap material including plastic, newspapers and other scrap items were stored on the ground floor. Someone alerted the police after a gas cylinder exploded due to the fire.
The bodies were shifted to Gandhi Hospital. Hospital authorities said bodies of 10 deceased were charred beyond recognition.
Gandhi Hospital superintendent Dr Raja Rao said four teams were constituted for autopsy. "We have to do DNA tests to identify the bodies and after completing the procedure we will hand over the remains to their families," he said.
Police said the negligence by the timber depot owner and violation of safety rules led to the incident.
Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has expressed shock over the fire accident and mourned the death of Bihar workers. He announced an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh each for the families of those who died in the fire.
The Chief Minister directed Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar to make arrangements to send the bodies of Bihar workers to their native places.
Based on the statements of the relatives and friends of the victims who rushed to the scene after learning about the incident, the deceased were identified as Deepak (26), Dinesh (35), Rajesh (25), Chintu (27), Pankaj (26), Bittu (23), Satender (35), Golu (28), Damodar (27), Sikandar (40), Rajesh (26).
They were working at scrap shops, timber depots and other shops in the area.
Minister for animal husbandry T. Srinivas Yadav, Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar and Police Commissioner Anand, Hyderabad district collector L. Sharman visited the scene.
Srinivas Yadav said the government would extend all possible help to the families. The Police Commissioner said the owner of the godown had no permissions from authorities concerned. Police registered a case under Section 174 of the CrPC and took up investigation.
Later, Home Minister Mohammed Mehmood Ali visited Gandhi Hospital and said action would be taken to prevent recurrence of such incidents.
President Ram Nath Kovind, Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu, Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan and leaders of various political parties also expressed shock over the fire accident.
There are currently 14 major medical colleges in Ukraine in which more than 18,000 Indian students are pursuing MBBS and BDS courses. Out of these, about 1,000 have returned home while efforts are on to bring back the rest.
Modi thanked Heger for the assistance provided by Slovakia in the evacuation of Indian citizens from Ukraine, and for permitting special evacuation flights from India. He asked for Slovakia's continued assistance in the next few days with India undertaking a mission to evacuate other citizens from conflict zones.
Sidhu has urged the apex court not to punish him with a jail term in a 1988 road rage case in which he was let off with a meagre fine of Rs 1,000. Senior advocate Siddharth Luthra, representing Gurnam Singh's family, submitted that he has moved an application seeking enlargement of the scope of the notice issued.
With Ukraine closing its airspace after Russia launched a military operation in the country on Thursday, the Indian Embassy in Kiev has asked the Indian nationals to start moving towards the bordering areas so that they can be evacuated safely.
The Indian Embassy in Kiev stated that the helpline numbers are being set up at the respective check-points to facilitate evacuation through the borders. These control rooms will be based in Poland, Romania and Hungary and they will be managed by the Indian officials posted in those countries.
On Thursday, India's Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla had stated that Jaishankar has spoken to concerned officials in Poland, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia for setting up camps on the border areas for evacuation of stranded Indian nationals.
