HYDERABAD: At least two members of jeweller Prahlad Modi’s family might have lived had they not stepped back into their burning home in Hyderabad’s Gulzar Houz Sunday morning to rescue loved ones trapped inside. They were among the 17 victims in the blaze that turned a weekend family get-together into a tragedy.Cousins Pankaj (37) and Abhishek (31) were among the first to have responded to the fire that started on ground floor of the three-storey building built over a century ago.“They had stepped out of the house to probably check the extent of the fire that originated in the main electrical panel,” said Mukesh Kumar, an employee. “Just as they stepped back in to alert others, the compressor unit of an AC exploded. Within minutes, the entire house was up in flames.”Realising that several members of the family were trapped inside the house, including his wife and three children, Pankaj scurried back into the building to rescue them. Abhishek followed. Hours later, when rescuers scoured the gutted building for survivors, both were found alive but barely hanging on. The cousins died while being taken to hospital, relatives said.Pankaj was Prahlad’s son and Abhishek the son of one of the patriarch’s younger brothers. The body of Pankaj’s 35-year-old wife Varsha was found with her arms around four child victims. “She was possibly trying to shield the kids,” said Muhammad Athar, another employee.Prahlad Modi and his wife Munni occupied the upper floors along with members of the extended family. Some of their sons, daughters and grandchildren had come visiting for the weekend when tragedy struck.
