The Indian Express | 1 week ago | 18-03-2023 | 11:45 am
The investigators probing the massive fire outbreak at a commercial building complex in Secunderabad, Telangana, on Thursday are also examining the activities of Vihaan Direct Selling (India) Pvt. Ltd, a sub-franchise of Hong Kong-headquartered Qnet that employed the six deceased people.The police are investigating if there are violations of building rules and negligence on part of the building owners.Six people identified as U Shiva, 22, R Triveni, 23, V Vennela, 22, K Prameela, 22, B Shravani, 22, and A Prashant, 23, died of asphyxiation and were declared dead at the hospital after they were rescued from the fire mishap. All six deceased were employed by Vihaan as direct selling and multi-level marketing executives.The state government announced an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh to each of the victims. Qnet is a firm facing a probe by the Enforcement Directorate and several other police departments in a multi-crore multi-level-marketing (MLM) scam.Assuring support to the bereaved families and stating that cases have been booked against the building owners, Minister Talasani Srinivas Yadav told reporters Friday that complaints against Qnet have been pouring in from Mahbubabad, Warangal, Narasmpet, Khammam etc and the matter is being investigated.“There are complaints against Qnet from other victims too. Cases will be registered and culprits will be arrested and recoveries will be made,” he said. The family members while waiting outside the Gandhi hospital morgue said that each of them had paid Rs 1.5 to 2 lakh to the company and received remuneration on a commission basis.Mahankali police Friday registered a case against Vihaan Direct Selling (India) Pvt. Ltd, Kedia Infotech Pvt Ltd, and Vikas Paper Flexo Packaging Limited along with the Swapnalok Suryakiran Establishment Association under sections 304 (part 2) (Whoever causes the death of any person by doing any rash or negligent act not amounting to culpable homicide), 420 (cheating) 324 (Voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means) of the Indian Penal Code and section 9 (b) of the Explosives Act.“We have some information against Vihaan but we are yet to take statements from families of the deceased victims. We will inquire into all the complaints and take statements from other employees too into all allegations,” said B Ramesh, assistant commissioner of police, Mahankali division.The blaze at the 40-year-old Swapnalok Complex started around 7.30 pm and was brought under control by 11 pm Thursday. The police are awaiting a report from the Fire Services department on the cause and origin of the fire.According to fire department officials, a short circuit in the electrical duct caused the fire and spread to the fifth floor.Trapped employees were traced via cell phone signals, officialA fire department officer told The Indian Express that the fire was limited to one portion of the building operated by Kedia Infotech Private Limited and Vikas Paper Flexo Private Limited on the fifth floor. Due to highly combustible material, including office files and furniture, thick smoke engulfed the fifth floor which also housed Vihaan’s office where eight employees were trapped.“Some of them fell inside the office while others were found unconscious near the stairway that had been blocked with waste material. The only way to reach the floor was through the elevator. Also, one of the doors to the office was kept locked leaving only one door for entry and exit into the office. The escape routes were blocked and 5 to 10 minutes of smoke is enough for one to fall unconscious,” the officer said. Eleven fire tenders and 35 firefighters were pressed into service to douse the fire.Around 10 pm the firefighters managed to reach the fifth floor using truck-mounted aerial platforms to rescue the people trapped there. “It was a difficult task to reach the fifth floor of the complex. The trapped people were traced using their cell phone signals. These victims managed to come out of their office but were unable to come down due to the blocked staircase,” he said. The police have cordoned off the B-block of the 10-storeyed building suspecting the structural strength has been compromised.Paid hard-earned money for job, says familyOutside the Gandhi hospital morgue, Triveni’s father Rama Rao, an auto driver, said his daughter had been working with the firm for almost two years after completing BTech. Both his daughters worked for the same firm and the younger one Mamata survived the mishap only because she left for home early. He said the family paid Rs 3 lakh to the company to secure the job. Mamata said she received a call from Triveni around 8 pm as fire and thick smoke spread across the fifth floor.“She wanted to know if I was safe and cut the call as the fire reached outside the door. She wanted me not to panic as she along with others was taking shelter in the bathroom,” she said. Mamata immediately rushed back to the building and informed the officials there about her sister who was trapped inside.“All the deceased including my sister could have been saved had the rescue team listened to me and rushed to the restroom on the fifth floor without any delay.”A security guard at the Swapnalok complex Friday said that most of the offices had been closed by 6 pm and casualties would have been much more had the fire erupted a few hours earlier. The B-block of the building is completely damaged from the fourth floor and above, he said. Triveni’s relatives said that the employees, including young women, were made to stay till 8.30 pm and 9 pm at the office. All six victims hailed from poor families in remote areas of the Mahbubabad, Warangal, and Khammam districts.Swapnalok was issued notice again recently, says Fire Services departmentDirector-General of the Fire Services department Y Nagi Reddy, in a statement, said that the owners of the Swapnalok complex were prosecuted in 2013 for the violation of Fire Prevention and Fire Safety measures. Again during a recent inspection, a notice was issued to the building by the department with advice to rectify certain deficits. This, too, was not adhered to.In the Fire Department DG’s statement to the media, the fire ignited first in the electrical duct and spread to the 5th floor. It said that two people from the fourth floor and five from the terrace were rescued initially along with five others from the fifth floor and shifted to the hospital. It was only after this that one of the employees informed the firefighters about six others who were missing. They were found lying unconscious in one of the offices on the fifth floor and rushed to hospital where they were declared dead.The investigation by the fire department found out that fire-fighting equipment in the building was not in working condition, the corridors of the fifth floor were filled with packaging card boxes and scrap, the door leading to the external staircase was locked, and it was filled with waste materials. The officials also found out that the building’s setbacks were occupied with parked vehicles that obstructed the entry of fire tender vehicles. They also observed that the electrical ducts were covered with wooden doors instead of fire doors.
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