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Hyderabad: A day after the disastrous fire incident at Gulzar Houz near Charminar in Hyderabad the previous day that claimed 17 lives, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president KT Rama Rao (KTR) on Monday, May 19, lashed out at the state government for “criminal negligence.”

He, along with other party leaders, met the grieving families and expressed condolences. Later, speaking to reporters, he termed the incident as unfortunate and urged the Telangana government to ensure citizen safety in the future.

“To lose 17 members of a family is a horrible thing to comprehend. This happened due to the criminal negligence of the government,” he said.

He said that the delay in the arrival of the fire tenders resulted in the loss of precious time. “The local association and the family members are saying one thing – for nearly one hour and 45 minutes, they kept calling the fire station but received no response,” he said.

KTR alleged that neither the fire tenders were equipped with enough water to douse the fire, nor had masks to enter the building, nor did the ambulances contain oxygen masks.

“The situation was completely mishandled and the government has to take responsibility. They cannot simply close the case by announcing compensation. They have to ensure and prepare such incidents do not occur in the future. An independent probe is required to investigate the accident,” he said.

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Fire erupted around 6 am at the Srikrishna Pearls building in Gulzar Houz near Charminar on Sunday. A short circuit is suspected to be the reason behind the accident. Witnesses saw the fire quickly spreading to the first floor. Thirty individuals, including the family of a pearl trader and his employees, were inside at the time.

Seventeen people, among them eight children, all below the age of seven, lost their lives. The victims have been identified as Prahlad, 70, Munni, 70, Rajendar Modi,65, Sumitra,60, Hamey,7, Abhishek, 31, Sheetal,35, Priyansh,4, Iraaj,2, Arushi,3, Rishabh,4, Pratham,1.5, Anuyan,3, Varsha, 35, Pankaj,36, Rajini, 32 and Iddu, 4.

On May 19, Telangana director general of fire services Y Nagi Reddy refuted the allegations as misleading and false. Click to read more.

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