Hyderabad Fire and Emergency Safety Guide

Many Old City buildings have shops on the ground floor and families living above, with one narrow staircase. In May 2025, a fire that began in the shop area of a building at Gulzar Houz near Charminar killed 17 people, eight of them children, as smoke filled the only way out.

Offices, shops and institutes share old complexes where smoke can trap people inside. In March 2023, six young people died in the Swapnalok complex fire at Secunderabad; fire officials suspected a short circuit.

Very heavy rain can fill the city lakes and send the Musi over its causeways within hours. In October 2020, record rain flooded several localities and 33 people died in Hyderabad. On 16 September 2026, six students drowned during Ganesh idol immersion in a lake near Pedda Kanjerla, in Sangareddy district.

The Patancheru and Pashamylaram belt has many pharma and chemical units with dryers, reactors and fine powders. On 30 June 2025, an explosion at Sigachi Industries in Pashamylaram killed 54 people, including eight whose bodies were never found, as the state told the High Court.

Flammable chemicals are sometimes stored in the stilt or ground floor of residential buildings. In November 2023 at Bazarghat, Nampally, a spark during car repair set illegally stored chemical drums alight, and nine people died that day.

In September 2022, a fire at an electric scooter showroom in Secunderabad spread up the stairway into the hotel above and killed eight guests, mostly by smoke. In October 2026, an IndiGo flight diverted to Hyderabad after smoke from a passenger's device, reported as a power bank.

Colleges and societies put up temporary stages and lighting trusses for Navratri nights. On 17 October 2026, a truss fell on dancers at a dandiya night at MVSR Engineering College, Nadergul, killing one student and hurting about 22; police have booked the college management and the organisers, and three people were arrested on 20 October.