Mum found hugging all four dead children after tragedy in 'unbearable scenes'

WARNING: GRAPHIC DETAILS AT LEAST EIGHT PEOPLE WERE KILLED AND SEVERAL INJURED IN A FIRE THAT BROKE OUT AT A BUILDING NEAR THE HISTORIC CHARMINAR MONUMENT IN INDIA 12:08, 20 May 2025

Firefighters have been left traumatised after finding a charred woman hugging her four dead children following a horrific blaze. Emergency services were called to a devastating fire in India

on Sunday as first responders desperately tried to rescue victims inside. At least eight people were killed and several injured in a fire that broke out at a building near the historic

Charminar monument in southern Hyderabad city. Several people were found unconscious and rushed to various hospitals, according to local media. Firefighters Mir Zahid and Mohd Azmat were

able to reach the first floor but sadly discovered the horrific scene of a charred woman hugging her four children, all of them dead. Mr Zahid told local media: "When we finally managed

to get inside the building and reached the first floor, we saw that the lady was sitting on the floor and hugging the children around her. "Among them were two young girls, a boy, and

an infant. She must have tried to protect them from the flames. The woman was holding on to a phone with its inbuilt torch lit. Unfortunately, none of them survived. Article continues below

A local resident tried to rescue the victims, according to an eyewitnesses. The bodies were tragically carried out by emergency services. "We then put a bedsheet on them as it was an

unbearable scene. All of them had burn injuries. I don't think I will ever be able to put into words what I saw in the house," Mr Azmat said. “The accident happened due to a short

circuit and many people have died,” federal minister and Bharatiya Janata Party leader G Kishan Reddy told reporters at the site of the accident. Director general of Telangana fire services

Y Nagi Reddy told reporters that 21 people were in the three-story building when the fire started on the ground floor early on Sunday. “Seventeen people, who were shifted to the hospital in

an unconscious state, could not survive. The staircase was very narrow, which made escape difficult. There was only one exit, and the fire had blocked it,” he said. Two more bodies were

later found in the same room. The fire was brought under control. Prime minister Narendra Modi announced financial compensation for the victims’ families and said in a post on X that he was

“deeply anguished by the loss of lives.” Article continues below Fires are common in India, where building laws and safety norms are often flouted by builders and residents.