Hyderabad: It wasn’t just a fire brigade response when the flames engulfed the buildings of Gulzar Houz in the old town. First of all, the local community.
The fire broke out around 5.45 a.m. At that hour a group of young people heading to Namaz in the morning saw smoke rising from the building. They rushed in without hesitation to help. Local resident Zahid was one of the first to enter the building to help the victims.
Speech Deccan Chronicle“Two women told us that people were trapped and they couldn’t leave. So we tried to get in from the main route. But the fire was already growing there. So we went in from the building next to us and helped them.”
Zahid added: “My friend, I and the other five poured water and broke the walls to bring them out. We personally kicked out 13 people from the building and we kept helping until 9am.”
Another passerby, Salman, said: “My brother and I helped them. We didn’t think about ourselves at all. All we could think of is how to bring them to safety as soon as possible. But unfortunately, some people died.”
Salman added: “We see a family suffering a lot, and it’s very painful. I picked up a child and he was wrapped in clothes to prevent them from suffocating. But the child was already in a coma. I felt very sad about my family.”
While some locals helped evacuate injured people, others managed traffic and cleared the roads for emergency vehicles to pass through narrow lanes.
Although professional firefighters later brought the fire under control, residents and firefighters said the people who helped them showed a lot of heroism and stopped the tragedy from getting worse.
