2 die in fire at illegal cracker shop, 1 injured

Hyderabad: Two persons were charred to death and another one suffered injuries when fire broke out at a house that illegally stored fire-crackers in Telangana's Nalgonda district, police said on Wednesday.

B Srinivas was selling firecrackers stored in his house in Bhongir town of Nalgonda to customers when the mishap occurred late last night, they said.

Flames erupted from an emergency light that was kept for charging in the room storing the firecrackers due to over heating. The electronic gadget fell on crackers resulting in sudden blaze when there were three customers at the place.

"Two customers, identified as Kalyan (20) and Nageswar (60), were burnt alive on the spot while the third customer Poshetty was rushed to a hospital with serious burn injuries," Bhongir Rural Police Station Inspector J Narendra said.

However, Srinivas and his family members managed to escape from the house when the blaze occurred, he said.

The front-portion of the house storing the crackers was completely gutted in the fire, he said, adding that a case has been registered under relevant sections of IPC and Explosives Act in connection with the incident.

House owner Srinivas has been taken into custody. A probe is on into the mishap, he said.