The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Fire at Bata showroom triggers panic

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Monday, Oct 08, 2007
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Fire at Bata showroom triggers panic

Staff Reporter

Traffic comes to a standstill on the busy Ameerpet-Begumpet stretch

- PHOTO: K. RAMESH BABU

Tragedy averted: Fire service personnel trying to extinguish flames at the Bata showroom near Lal Bungalow in Ameerpet on Sunday.

HYDERABAD: A fire accident in the Bata showroom near Lal Bungalow in Ameerpet on Sunday evening triggered panic among customers who came for shopping on the eve of forthcoming Dasera and Ramzan festivals. Traffic came to a standstill on the busy Ameerpet to Begumpet road following the incident.

Staffers noticed smoke emanating from the storeroom and called the fire control room around 5.55 p.m. A fire tender from Secunderabad and an Advanced Fire Control vehicle was immediately pressed into service. As flames with heavy smoke started spreading the entire floor due to cotton boxes being stocked inside the room, six more fire tenders from Filmnagar, Gowliguda, Jeedimetla, Sanathnagar and Moulali were rushed. The fire was brought under control after more than an hour, said District Fire Officer G. Narayana Rao. The shop was housed in the first-floor of a five-storied building. Shop manager Mahadeva Rao said the accident could have occurred due to short-circuit from an exhaust fan in the store room.

Stocks gutted

Stocks worth Rs.60 lakh was damaged in the incident.

“Six customers were present in the shop when the smoke was detected. We immediately asked them to leave the shop and put-off the power,” he said. The police said the reasons for the fire accident could be ascertained on Monday.

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