Hyderabad, May 18 (IANS) Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy has ordered a thorough probe into the fire in a building near Charminar, which claimed 17 lives on Sunday.

According to the Chief Minister’s Office, he ordered a probe to unearth the root cause of the blaze. The Chief Minister stressed that preventive measures should be taken to prevent such fire accidents in the future, and awareness should also be created among people.

The Chief Minister expressed grief and condolences over the death of 17 people in the fire mishap. He also conveyed sympathies to the bereaved families and assured them of full support from the state government

Soon after receiving information about the fire accident, he spoke to the Fire Service department and police officials on the phone and closely monitored the rescue operation. In addition to expediting the rescue operations, the CM asked the ministers who are available in the city and officials to rush immediately to the incident spot to provide better medical treatment to the victims.

The Chief Minister enquired from Minister Ponnam Prabhakar and Y. Nagi Reddy, Director General, Telangana Fire Disaster Response Emergency and Civil Defence, about the health condition of the injured and instructed them to shift the injured to the nearby hospitals for better medical treatment.

He also spoke directly to the families of the victims on the phone and expressed deep sympathies for the loss of their family members. Assuring them of full support, the government has already announced an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh each to the families of the deceased.

CM Revanth Reddy commended the Fire Services authorities for their prompt response, which averted further loss of lives in the fire incident.

Eight children and five women were among 17 people killed in the fire that broke out in the building in Gulzar Houz near historic Charminar.

Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, Minister Ponnam Prabhakar and Damodar Raja Narasimha visited the accident site. They also visited Osmania Hospital, where the bodies of the victims were kept.

–IANS

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