COLOSSAL LOSS: The scene at the National Insurance Company at Basheerbagh after the fire that destroyed the entire office on Friday. — Photo: P.V.Sivakumar

HYDERABAD: Fire broke out in the National Insurance Company office located on the third floor of a commercial complex at Basheerbagh in the early hours of Friday.

While three persons of a call centre located on the top floor had a miraculous escape, the entire office of NIC, which is into the business of insuring properties, was reduced to ashes. The loss of property, including 50 computers and a server, was estimated at Rs.3 crores.

The fire in the eight-storied Moghul Court building that had a petrol pump on one side and a residential high-rise on the other could have turned into a major disaster. But quick response from the police and fire fighters helped prevent the blaze from spreading to adjacent buildings like the Babu Khan estate.

Huge contingents of the police and fire fighters struggled for over two hours using 19 fire tenders and 45 water tankers to control the flames. "Power suddenly went off around 5 a.m. I thought it was a routine disruption in power supply but got scared when smoke started billowing out from downstairs," a call centre owner Raziuddin told The Hindu .

His car driver Khader and a woman employee Raiza were working in their office then. They tried to come down by the staircase. "But thick smoke made the flight suffocating and such was the heat that even the skin was burning and escape was impossible," he recalled with a shudder. By that time security guard Shaik Habib, who had the keys to the terrace gate and had already sent an SOS to the police control room, somehow managed to reach the eighth floor. But he had to hurry down as the flames increased.

Later, the trio went up the terrace and jumped on to the adjacent residential complex.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail