Hyderabad Gulzar Houz fire tragedy: Smoke, sorrow and a system on fire Premium

Tragic fire at ancestral home of Modi family in Hyderabad leaves 17 dead, raising questions on emergency response.

The stench of smoke still hung heavy over Hyderabad’s Gulzar Houz circle, hours after the blaze had died down. Locals gathered in stunned silence, staring at the blackened ruins of what was once the bustling ancestral home of the Modis near the historic Charminar.

The fire broke out around dawn. Smoke was first spotted rising from a ground-floor shop in the century-old ground plus 2 structure, and within minutes, flames leapt from the windows, engulfing the building. Parked motorcycles at the entrance turned into fuel, blocking the only access point and intensifying the inferno.

This was no ordinary residence. Built in the early 1900s by Manoharlal Poonamchand, founder of Modi Pearls, the home had housed generations of the Modi family — pearl merchants who migrated from Rajasthan. The traditional Nizam-Hyderabadi structure, with its central courtyard and narrow staircases, had no external balconies or fire escapes.

Just a day before, on May 17, the family had gathered for a rare reunion at a relative’s home in Attapur, about 10 kilometres away. Summer vacation had brought the extended family, scattered around different parts of the country, under one roof — elders exchanging memories, children darting through hallways. No one imagined it would be their last evening together.

By the next morning, 17 members of the family, including eight children, had perished.

At the time of the fire, family heads Prahlad and Rajendra Modi, their wives, children, and grandchildren were in the house. Some survived — one of the five brothers, Bankat Chand Modi, his wife Shakuntala, and his sisters Aasha and Varsha.

In a moment of tragic heroism, Bankat’s son, Abhishek, had rushed back in to save the others. He did not make it out alive.