Hyderabad, 25 Jan 

Five persons, including two children and an elderly woman, died of "asphyxiation" after a fire broke out in a four-storey building housing a furniture shop in Nampally here, officials said on Sunday.

A massive fire broke out on Saturday in the building, after which rescue operations were launched to save five people trapped in its basement, officials said.

"We got information that five people were missing. We were able to retrieve all five bodies, including those of two boys and an elderly woman, from different places within the cellar of the building on Sunday," a senior police official told PTI.

The other two men, in their 30s, among the five deceased were from Hyderabad, and were workers in the building.

"They (two workers) rushed inside to save them (the children and the woman) but as flames became so huge that they were unable to come out and got stuck," officials said.

The two children, aged seven and 11, were sons of a security guard of the building, whose family was residing in the basement. The security guard, who hails from Nalgonda district of Telangana was away while his wife had also gone out for some work leaving the children at their accommodation at the time of the fire accident, they said.

The 60-year-old woman, a native of Kalaburagi district from neighbouring Karnataka, worked as a sweeper-cum-security woman and stayed in another room in the basement, they said.

Telangana Revenue Minister P Srinivas Reddy announced an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh to the kin of each of the deceased.

Expressing grief over the deaths, he said that a thorough investigation will be conducted into the incident and necessary measures will be initiated from recurrence of such incidents.

Telangana Fire, Disaster Response, Emergency and Civil Defence Department Director General Vikram Singh Mann told PTI on Sunday that there was gross violation of the fire safety norms.

Furniture, chemicals, plastics, rexine, cloth and foam mattress were among the materials stored in the two basements of the building besides families were provided accommodation there, he said, adding the cellars are meant only for parking.

The victims are suspected to have died of asphyxiation as heavy smoke emanated from the two basements where the furniture showroom owner "illegally" dumped furniture and raw material, he said.

However, the cause of the deaths would be known after post-mortem and medical examination, he said.

When asked about the cause of the blaze, he said it could be because of electrical short-circuit and another reason might be due to cooking gas used by the family staying in the basement, but they are subject to detailed investigation.

Mann said they received a call at about 1.41 PM on Saturday and since then multiple agencies, including police, fire, NDRF personnel and Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Protection Agency (HYDRAA), took part in the rescue operations.

Although the fire was brought under control, thick smoke billowing out from the building made the operation difficult. Moreover, the approach to the basement was totally blocked due to the dumping of furniture and related raw materials, which made it difficult for rescue personnel to gain access, officials said.

Fire tenders besides a skylift and a firefighting robot were also used during the rescue operations, they said.

A case was registered against the shop owner, police added.