10-year-old girl dies in fire in furniture unit

Hyderabad: A 10-year-old girl Shiva Priya died and several others were injured after a fire broke out at a furniture manufacturing unit in Jiyaguda on Tuesday night. Locals and officials rescued 25 people living in the apartment. Reacting promptly to the emergency, the Kulsumpura police and firefighters rushed to the spot with four fire extinguishers. Using stairs, they safely evacuated seven families living on the upper floors, while five people were seriously injured and 25 others were rescued. According to the fire department, the incident took place in a four-storey building where seven families were trapped after the fire broke out around 1 am. Five members of the same family were seriously injured in the fire and were rushed to Osmania General Hospital. Shiva Priya succumbed to her injuries during treatment and four others, including Lakshmi Bai (70), Srinivas (37), Madhavi (24) and Meghana (18), are undergoing treatment, three of whom are in a critical condition. The fire broke out on the ground floor of the four-storey building under Kulsumpura police station area at around 1 am and later spread to the first and second floors, the official said. After receiving the information, fire tenders rushed to the spot and brought the fire under control by 3 am. “A call was received at 1:22 am and the team immediately reached the spot. Several people trapped in the building were rescued. The cause of the fire is suspected to be a short circuit. A case has been registered and investigation is underway,” a senior fire department official said. The owner of the furniture factory reportedly lives in Nampally and was absent from the spot due to a family emergency, the official said. The Kulsumpura police said the owner of the building ran a furniture manufacturing unit on the ground floor and the exact cause of the fire is being investigated.