Hyderabad, May 18 : The Telangana government has announced an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh each to the families of those killed in Sunday's fire accident in a building near historic Charminar.

Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka announced the ex-gratia after visiting Osmania Hospital, where the bodies of the 17 victims were kept.

The Deputy Chief Minister consoled the families of the deceased and conveyed his condolences.

Vikramarka, who cut short his visit to Khammam district to reach Hyderabad, was accompanied by the Hyderabad in-charge Minister Ponnam Prabhakar and Health Minister Damodar Raja Narasimha.

The Deputy CM gathered details about the accident from Police Commissioner C. V. Anand, Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) Commissioner Karnan and Fire Services Director General Y. Nagi Reddy.

Talking to media persons, Vikramarka said the government would extend every possible assistance to the families of the deceased.

Terming the incident as very unfortunate, he said that Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy and the entire Cabinet were shocked over the incident. He said the Chief Minister directed ministers and officials to provide relief to victims and monitor the situation.

According to a preliminary investigation by the authorities concerned, a short-circuit led to the fire. The Deputy CM said the fire call was received at 6.16 a.m. and a fire engine from Moghalpura fire station reached the spot at 6.20 a.m. The firefighters rescued 17 people trapped in the fire and shifted them to hospitals.

He said a total of 12 firefighting vehicles reached the spot to douse the fire. Eleven fire engines, one firefighting robot, 17 fire officers and 70 personnel participated in the operation to check the spread of fire.

He also revealed that a fire officer suffered serious injuries while battling the fire and that he has been admitted to a hospital.

Vikramarka said the state government would take all measures to prevent the recurrence of such incidents.

He said a meeting would be held in 2-3 days to initiate serious measures to ensure that such incidents do not occur again.

/IANS