Hyderabad fire: Tears, chaos and questions at Osmania General Hospital mortuary after fire tragedy

Hearse service vehicles arriving at the Osmania General Hospital mortuary as the bodies, following completion of post-mortem examinations, are being handed over to the families for final rites.
| Photo Credit: Siddharth Kumar Singh

The mortuary at Osmania General Hospital turned into a scene of grim faces, tears and chaos on Sunday (May 18, 2025) afternoon as the ambulances carrying victims of the Gulzar Houz fire accident arrived around 11:30 a.m. from different hospitals.

With them came grieving families, some in shock, others in tears, following the bodies of their loved ones. These were the final two among the 17 deceased brought from various private hospitals across the city.

Outside the mortuary, emotions ran high as families, barred from entering, clung to each other for comfort. Among them was Sunil Modi, who had lost 10 family members in the incident. “What did we do to deserve such pain in life?” he asked, his voice breaking.

Ankit Jain, who lost three members of the his extended family, recounted the morning’s events with disbelief. “My sister-in-law called around 6 a.m., but I missed it as I was asleep. When I called back 10 minutes later, there was no answer. I assumed they had gone back to sleep as it was a Sunday. Then came the call about the fire. I rushed immediately, but by the time I reached, bodies were being pulled out.”

Hyderabad fire updates: May 18, 2025

By noon, senior ministers including Ponnam Prabhakar, Minister C. Damodar Raja Narasimha, Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and AIMIM Chief Asaduddin Owaisi had arrived at the hospital. While some consoled families, others directed officials to expedite post-mortem formalities and ensure timely handover of bodies for last rites.

Several families at the mortuary also voiced serious concerns about the emergency response. “All the allegations will be taken seriously and an inquiry will be ordered into these.” He added that State authorities had acted swiftly to respond to the disaster.

Hyderabad City Police Commissioner C.V. Anand and GHMC Commissioner R.V. Karnan were also present, coordinating with hospital officials and Ministers to manage the crowd and support the families.