Hyderabad: A major fire broke out Wednesday at the Gubba Cold Storage Centre in Annaram, just outside Hyderabad in Sangareddy district. No one was injured, but the facility has taken a serious hit.
Initial findings suggest the fire may have started due to an electrical short circuit. That’s not confirmed yet, but either way, once it started, it spread fast. Flames tore through the building, wrecking critical storage systems and knocking out a big chunk of the infrastructure.
Pharma, Food, and Vaccine Storage Among the Worst Hit
As the fire grew, workers got out quickly. Fire crews got there not long after and were on it for hours. Smoke was still pouring out when they arrived. By the time they managed to contain it, large chunks of the structure were already done for, especially the cooling systems and storage zones, which seemed to have taken the worst of it.
The facility is run by Gubba Cold Storage Pvt Ltd. It’s used to store a range of stuff—everything from food items and seeds to pharmaceutical supplies. The site also includes cryogenic chambers used for preserving vaccines and other sensitive pharma goods. Staff told us the cooling systems have been “severely damaged,” but a full damage report is still in the works.
Investigators are still on-site trying to nail down exactly what triggered the fire. Officials said more details should come through once they’ve wrapped up the inspection.
Right now, it’s too soon to put a number on the total loss—but judging by the scene, it’s going to take a while to get this place running again.