80 persons rescued from burning building

HYDERABAD: Fire fighters rescued 80 persons trapped in a four-storeyed building on Dharam Karan road on Monday, after a major fire broke out in it, causing huge property loss.Fire services officials said they received the information at 10.21 a.m about a fire which broke out at the Bhavya Srisailam Arcade in Ameerpet and immediately pressed nine fire tenders into service. Battling thick clouds of smoke, fire tenders worked for more nearly four hours to complete the operation. Though the fire was doused within an hour, smoke billowed out of the building for hours after. Officials said La Belle fitness centre in the complex was reduced to ashes with the Food World store also suffering losses.Firemen broke open window panes in the front and rear of the building, to let the smoke out. The operation was completed by 2.30 in the afternoon, according to Jayaram Nayak, regional fire officer.A short circuit is suspected to have lead to the fire. There had been a power cut in the morning and the generator was on. After the power came back, they forgot to switch off the generator. However, officials said the reason is being investigated.According to the director of State Disaster Response and Fire Services P Venkateshwar, the building has a cellar, ground floor and four upper floors along with a temporary shed with tin sheets.He said the building had neither obtained a NOC from the fire service department as per the Fire Service Act nor installed fire safety equipments.Officials said that since the La Belle shop had stocked soft clothes, oils and creams, the fire spread rapidly . Similarly, lots of plastic products and wooden partitions in the Food World store, led to the fire spreading in no time. However, no casualties were reported and all 80 people escaped unhurt.The National Building Code of India specifies all buildings should have fire safety equipments such as fire extinguishers, hose reel system, manually operated fire alarm, terrace tank among others. None these were present in the building, said one official.