A major fire broke out at Numaish, the famous annual industrial exhibition. at Hyderabad’s central part of Nampally on Wednesday evening.
Properties worth lakhs of rupees at the exhibition stalls got gutted. “Seven fire tenders reached the exhibition grounds within a few minutes. No loss of life was reported. Most of the visitors to the exhibition have been already evacuated,” Hyderabad Police Commissioner Anjani Kumar told The Hindu over the phone at 9.28 p.m.
Fire started near Vanitha Maha Vidyalaya (womens’ college at Nampally) side around 9 p.m. Within a few minutes, it spread to surrounding stalls in the exhibition premises which is spread over several acres of land.
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“Despite pressing into service several fire tenders, blazes could not be controlled. With each passing second, more stalls are catching fire,” said a policeman struggling to douse flames at the spot.
When reports last came in, 200 shops were reduced to ashes and the fire was yet to be brought under control.
Shopkeepers, whose shops were gutted, said they had lost stock worth crores of rupees.
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An eyewitnesses said the fire engine inside the exhibition could not reach the spot immediately. “It took 15 minutes for the first fire engine to reach the spot,” a shopkeeper said in choked voice.
Desperate shopkeepers were seen removing clothes and inflammable materials. Large presence of onlookers made the task of firefighters even more difficult.
At least six cases of smoke inhalation and injuries were reported. Lot of people were separated from their families and friends, and appeals were being made to leave Numaish in a peaceful manner. An unidentified woman took the mic and was desperately pleading that her brothers Salman and Naseer come to the announcement area. Many children were also reportedly separated from their parents.