At least a dozen persons had a providential escape after fire broke out in the second floor of a newly constructed Sree Krupa apartment at Kacheguda on Saturday evening.
Thanks to the dare-devil acts by five youngsters, eight persons, including two children were evacuated from the building even before the fire tenders could reach the building located near Jain Mandir.
Fire service personnel fought with flames for nearly an hour to douse the flames.
Eyewitnesses said flames erupted as the workers were polishing the flooring in one of the flats of the four-storeyed building and the workers scampered to safety.
As thick smoke billowed out of the newly constructed building, locality people gathered in large numbers. They hurriedly placed a ladder connecting an adjacent building.
Three youngsters P. Shravan Yadav, Nataraj and Kiran climbed into the building to safely evacuate a woman and two children.
Gas cylinders shifted
Meanwhile, two others P. Pavan Kumar and Rahul Yadav wrapped themselves with a wet carpet and rushed into the building through staircase to bring out five more persons.
Risking their lives, the duo had also shifted three gas cylinders from a flat on the first floor.
“We tried to get onto the third floor but could not because of thick plumes of smoke”, recalled Kumar. Mercifully, there were none on the upper floors.
Not fully occupied
The building is not yet fully occupied. Only the flats on the first and second floors were occupied by the residents.
Fire officials believe that sparks emanating from the marble polishing machine could have led to the fire accident.
Three fire tenders from Gowliguda, Moghalpura and Malakpet were rushed to the spot.
Report sought
Meanwhile, Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy has directed the Collector and the Revenue administration to take relief measures and asked officials to submit a report after conducting a detailed probe.
