A fire broke out in a locked house at Kukatpally on Sunday night due to an oil lamp lighted for Maha Shivaratri, injuring no one.

The fire broke out in a LIG Block at KPHB Colony. As per fire brigade personnel, the family performed special rituals for the festival before going to the nearby temple. The flames that broke loose during the ritual got into the house through the lamps that they lit before locking the house up.

Preliminary investigations suggest the fire was ignited by these lamps, then ignited nearby household goods and furniture. Within moments, the inside filled with thick smoke.

The inferno ate everything in its path till the neighbors next door noticed half-covered flames, by which time fire personnel had arrived, extinguishing it in no time and thereby preventing the nearby tightly packed houses from catching fire.

A detailed assessment of the property damage is currently underway, with thorough investigation of the fire under way to correlate the exact cause with the damage.