PARTY-GOER LANDS UP IN HOSP WHILE TRYING TO ESCAPE THE BLAZE

Siddharth Shroff (41) was partying along with his cousins when the fire broke out at 1Above pub at Kamala Mills at Lower Parel.

Shroff has been admitted at Bhatia hospital in room number 504 where he is presently undergoing treatment for 35 percent burns. Shroff was accompanied along with his cousins Utsav Shroff, Deep Shroff and Amit Shah. His cousins had come down to Mumbai from the US and they had decided to have a good time at the pub.

Speaking to the Free Press Journal, Shroff said,“I was at the 1Above pub along with my cousins when the fire broke out near the place where we standing. Most of the people had rushed to the washroom to save themselves since they could not figure the exit. People were shouting for help and frantically running around searching for the exit.The exit was very narrow and there was no other exit point.

“The area at 1Above was covered with curtains, bamboo and tarpaulin sheets. While running towards the exit, my shirt caught fire.The tarpaulin sheets and bamboo fell on my back. However I managed to escape,” added Shroff. He was rushed to the hospital in a car which was parked outside Kamala mills.

‘Lucky to be alive’

One of the eyewitnesses at 1 Above restaurant, says she was lucky to have been saved and also that the disaster management team did a wonderful job. “After work on Thursday, I and my friend had planned to dine at 1 Above at Kamala Mills. We reached at around 10pm and had finished eating by 12.15 am. We were just to pay the bill when we saw a small portion of the roof catching fire. It looked so minor that everyone thought it would be doused,” said Dr Sulbha Arora, Clinical Director – Nova IVI (Andheri, Mumbai), Gynaecologist and IVF Specialist at KEM and many hospitals.

“By the time anyone could realize, the fire had engulfed the whole place and people started rushing to the exit. Chaos and panic created a stampede-like situation where I fell down and people walked past me. The hotel staff however, was quiet helpful. They helped me and my friend through the back-exit from the kitchen. After about 7 mins of nearing death, we came out alive,” she recalled.

I was at the 1Above pub along with my cousins when the fire broke out near the place where we were standing. Most of the people had rushed to the washroom to save themselves since they could not figure out the exit. People were shouting for help and frantically running around searching for the exit.The exit was very narrow and there was no other exit point

-SIDDHARTH SHROFF