Five feared trapped as fire engulfs furniture store in Nampally; eyewitnesses recall horror

Tension gripped the Nampally area on Saturday (January 24) afternoon after a massive fire broke out at a furniture store housed in a G+3 building. As of 9 p.m., no casualties or injuries had been officially reported, though as many as five people are feared trapped inside the cellar of the building. The fire has been brought under control but access to the building is still limited.

Thick smoke blanketed the locality and disrupted normal life throughout the evening, forcing the police and fire officials to launch a large-scale rescue operation, evacuate the surrounding buildings and put traffic restrictions in place.

According to fire department officials, a distress call was received at 1.42 p.m., following which at least 10 fire tenders were rushed to the spot. By the time the first teams arrived, flames had already spread rapidly from the cellar to the upper levels, feeding on highly combustible material stored inside.

In a bid to ventilate the building, firefighters, assisted by locals from a neighbouring G+4 commercial complex, began smashing glass panes to create exit points for the trapped smoke. Stones were hurled at the facade, and the sharp, metallic crack of shattering glass echoed through the area. A bronto skylift was positioned outside, with two fire personnel perched in the basket, breaking windows on the third and fourth floors to allow the smoke to dissipate and prepare for a possible interior search once conditions improved.

The entire stretch around the building was cordoned off, and traffic was diverted on either side for nearly half a kilometre. Shops, offices and nearby residences were shut, and police cleared the area to give fire engines and rescue vehicles free access. A traffic advisory was issued, and the public was asked to avoid Numaish exhibition and adjoining roads for the rest of the day.

Eyewitnesess recount horror

Eyewitnesses spoke of moments of confusion and fear as the fire took hold. Bharat Kumar, a private contractor working in an adjacent office, said he was having lunch around 12.30 p.m. when a strong, suffocating smell suddenly filled the room. “I had food in my hand when the smell hit us. We could not breathe. It was terrifying,” he said. Rushing outside, he saw flames leaping from the neighbouring furniture store and immediately alerted his management, after which the office was evacuated.

Family members break down at the site of a fire that broke out in a furniture shop on the ground floor of a four-storey building at Chirag Ali Lane in Nampally, Hyderabad, on Saturday.
| Photo Credit:
RAMAKRISHNA G

The building forms part of a tightly packed row of furniture showrooms and commercial establishments, a factor that, according to officials, contributed to the rapid spread of fire and smoke.

Another resident, Kumar, who lives barely 20 steps from the building, alleged that there was a delay in the arrival of fire tenders. He said the fire broke out around 12.30 p.m., but the first engines reached only close to 2.30 p.m. “The flames had already climbed to the upper floors, and huge clouds of smoke were visible even from my house,” he said. He also claimed that around 300 mattresses had been delivered to the store a day earlier, which may have further fuelled the blaze.

Firefighters continued to face major challenges in accessing the cellar, where visibility was almost nil. Hyderabad District Fire Officer – 1 T. Venkanna said the cellar has only one entry point, a ramp, and is completely filled with thick smoke, making movement inside extremely difficult. “It is pitch dark and heavily smoke-filled. Our teams are making continuous efforts to enter the cellar and check if anyone is trapped,” he said.

A senior official from the Central zone of Hyderabad said that a complaint is yet to be received, after which a case will likely be booked against the owner of the shop for negligence. Rescue operations are expected to continue overnight to trace the missing individuals. The exact cause of the fire is yet to be determined, and a detailed investigation is under way.