Blaze at Khan Lateef Khan building, close shave for 300 employees

HYDERABAD: A major fire broke out at Khan Lateef Khan (KLK) Estate at Fateh Maidan on Wednesday afternoon. After a three-hour firefighting exercise, fire personnel doused the blaze. Though there was no loss of life, four persons, including two firemen on duty, got trapped in the flames and were rescued later. Over 300 people, mostly employees of several offices operating out of the seven-floor commercial complex, were evacuated from the structure located on a busy road opposite LB Stadium.
Around 12.45pm, a fire broke out in one of the air-conditioners of Advantage One (AO) Tax Consultancy, located on the fifth floor of the building.Initially, the AO staff noticed smoke emitting from the air conditioner. As thick smoke enveloped them, the employees panicked and vacated their office. And, within a short time, the fire engulfed the office and spread to the corridor too. Employees of other offices on fifth floor too started to leave.
As flames started spreading to upper floors, the fire alarm was sounded and information was passed to all occupants in the building, especially those on sixth and seventh floors, to leave. Also, the lifts were stopped.

District fire officer (DFO) M Sreenivas Reddy said after getting a distress call, a fire tender stationed at the assembly was rushed to the spot as a large number of people were at the commercial building. Another 11 fire tenders joined the operation and the personnel struggled for nearly three hours to douse the fire as thick smoke made their task difficult. “We deployed 12 fire tenders and operated them from different directions to douse the fire. Four persons, including two of our own men who were on the rescue mission, got trapped in the building, After getting information about their trap in a room, we rescued them by breaking open a door. However, no one suffered injuries let alone casualties.AO property, including furniture and computers, got gutted in the blaze, while other offices were affected by smoke,” Sreenivas Reddy told TOI.
A first responder, who was part of the GHMC’s disaster wing, was rushed to hospital due to asphyxia.
Fire personnel used a snorkel and huge ladders to access the building from different directions. Police blocked access to the road in front of the commercial building, affecting vehicular movement on the stretch between Khan Lateef Khan Estate and Babu Jagjivan Ram statue. Around 4pm, traffic was allowed to ply on the road.
To a query about the likely property loss, the fire officials said they were yet to ascertain it. As of now, they were treating it as a ‘serious fire’, in which property loss could be above ₹20 lakh. Police registered a case. They would initiate action based on the report of fire department and forensic officials.