At least eight people died and seven were admitted to hospital after a massive fire erupted at Ruby Pride Luxury Hotel in Secunderabad in Telangana on Monday night. "The fire broke out in an electric scooter recharging (showroom) unit on ground floor, smoke from which overpowered the people staying on the first and second floors," said Hyderabad Commissioner CV Anand.
The commissioner said that while casualties were reported, several people jumped from the building to save themselves. They were rescued by locals and rushed to the hospital, he was quoted by news agency ANI as saying.
A case was registered against the owner of the building and the lodge where the fire broke out. "An FIR was registered against the owners of the Electric Scooter showroom and the manager of the lodge," said Chandana Deepti, DCP, North Zone, Hyderabad.
According to News 18, there were 25 occupants in the hotel when the blaze engulfed the building late on Monday. Official sources said that the death toll is likely to increase.
While the cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained, the official said it was suspected that an e-bike or a generator placed in the Ruby Motors showroom exploded leading to the fire.
Expressive grief over the death of eight people in the fire, the office of Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced Rs 2 lakh ex gratia to the next of kin of each deceased and Rs. 50,000 to those injured.
The Telangana Chief Minister also announced an ex-gratia of Rs 3 lakh, Mohd Mahmood Ali said.
Telangana Home Minister Mohd Mahmood Ali termed the incident "very unfortunate". He said, "Fire brigade teams tried their best to rescue people from the lodge but due to heavy smoke, some people died. Some others were rescued from the lodge. We are probing how the incident happened."
(Edited by : Akriti Anand)
First Published: Sept 13, 2022 9:01 AM IST
