The accident happened due to a short circuit and many people have died, federal minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader G Kishan Reddy told reporters at the site of the accident. The 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. 17 people, who were shifted to the hospital in an unconscious state, could not survive. The staircase was very narrow, which made escape difficult.
Smoke and flames erupted in the cabin of a JetBlue flight last month after a passenger's portable charger overheated and caught fire in their carry-on luggage.