Eight people were killed and several others injured after a massive fire broke out at an electric scooter showroom and spread to a hotel on the upper floors of the multi-storeyed building in Telangana's Secunderabad late last night.

Officials said the fire broke out at the electric scooter showroom on the ground floor of the building, and soon spread upwards to Hotel Ruby Pride, where at least 25 guests were staying. 

All the eight people seemed to have died because of asphyxiation caused by the smoke, they added. 

"It appears there are 23 rooms in all the four floors in the hotel. The smoke traversed through the staircase from the bottom up to the top floor. Some people who were sleeping in the first and second floors came to the corridor through the thick smoke and died due to asphyxiation," said CV Anand, Police Commissioner, Hyderabad.

The Fire Department rescued several people using crane ladders, while a few locals also joined in and helped in the rescue operations, officials said. Videos also show some people jumping out from the hotel windows in a bid to escape the fire.

The injured have been shifted to various hospitals of the city for treatment and the fire has been brought under control, Mr Anand said. 

"There were electric scooters parked where the fire started. We don't know if it started because of over-charging and then spread or whether it started elsewhere. That is still being established," Chandana Deepti, deputy commissioner, Hyderabad was quoted as saying by Reuters.

Officials said the water sprinkler system in the building did not work when the fire broke out - which is now being investigated.

Telangana Home Minister Mohammad Mehmood Ali condoled the loss of lives and said a probe has been ordered to ascertain the exact cause of the fire.

"Fire brigade teams tried their best to rescue people from the lodge but due to heavy smoke, some people died. We are probing how the incident happened and a case has been registered," he said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a tweet announced a compensation of ₹ 2 lakh each for the family members of the people who died in the mishap, and ₹ 50,000 each for the injured.

The state government has also announced a compensation of ₹ 3 lakh each for the families of the victims.

Source: NDTV

BDST: 1236 HRS, SEP 13, 2022
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