Hyderabad: Around 3 pm on a sunny Tuesday afternoon, Hyderabad home guard Jaweed Khan was patrolling the Chatrinaka area when he noticed thick smoke and fire emerging from a building.
He quickly realised the building was engulfed in fire. Using presence of mind, Jaweed quickly parked his vehicle and ran up the stairs. “There were five women and two men on the first and second floors. I escorted them down safely,” Jaweed told Siasat.com.
The fire accident was the third such incident reported in Hyderabad in three days. Sunday’s Gulzar Houz fire mishap which claimed 17 lives, eight being children, all below the age of seven, was one of the most devastating in recent times.
After escorting the residents to safety, Jaweed spotted a greater danger: two LPG cylinders inside the building. To prevent a potential explosion, the home guard went inside the building again to remove them.
“I carried the gas cylinders on my shoulders and brought them down the stairs. If the cylinders had caught fire, there would have been a bigger disaster,” the home guard said.
“There is a mosque adjacent to the building, and the fear of the situation taking an ugly turn haunted me,” said a concerned Jaweed.
Jaweed Khan is attached to the BC-1 team of Chatrinaka police station.
| Edited by Veena Nair | 
