Hyderabad, Jan 25 (IANS) Three bodies were recovered on Sunday from the rubble of a furniture store that was gutted in a huge fire here, police said.

The rescue team found charred remains of three persons from the basement of the four-storey building, where fire broke out on Saturday, and shifted them to Osmania General Hospital.

The rescue workers continued searching for four other persons feared trapped in the fire. The search operation has been on since Saturday afternoon.

Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Protection Agency (HYDRAA), police and firefighting personnel continued the rescue operation.

The fire services department continued its efforts to control the smoke still emanating from the basement of the building housing Sai Vishwas Furniture Castle.

The fire broke out around 1 p.m. in the building located near Nampally Railway Station in the heart of the city.

The firefighters managed to bring the blaze under control after nearly eight hours, using skylifts and robots, but thick smoke hampered the rescue effort.

It was the locals who noticed fire and thick smoke emanating from the warehouse in the basement and alerted the fire department. Officials suspect a short circuit led to the fire

Seven people, including two children, were feared trapped in the fire. They were identified as Mohammed Imtiyaz (27), a worker at the store; Syed Habeeb (28), an auto trolley driver; Yadaiah, store watchman; his two children, 11-year-old Akhil and seven-year-old Praneet. A woman identified as Beban Bee was also among those trapped.

The rescue workers were having a tough time clearing the debris due to hazardous conditions inside the building.

The fire has severely damaged the building, which had a ground and four floors with two cellars, the first of which was densely packed with furniture material.

With doubts on the structural stability of the building after the fire, a team of engineering experts from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU) was inspecting the structure. Based on the team’s report, the authorities will make a decision to demolish the building.

–IANS

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