Four killed in fire at Mumbai high-rise
mumbai — A fire broke out on the 12th floor of a posh high-rise residential building in Dadar here on Wednesday morning, killing four people and injuring 16, fire officials said.
Dozens of people were rescued from different floors of the 17-storey Crystal Tower building near Hindmata Cinema.
The blaze has been brought under control and cooling operations are underway, officials said.
The fire brigade control room got a message at 8.32am about the blaze on the 12th floor. The smoke from the raging fire spread rapidly, trapping the residents in the stairs, Mumbai Fire Brigade chief P S Rahangdale said.
At least 20 people suffered from suffocation due to the smoke. They were rushed to the nearby KEM Hospital, where four of them, including a woman, were declared brought dead, the city civic body said.
The 16 injured, including six women, were undergoing treatment and their condition was reported to be stable, it said
Two of the deceased were identified as Bablu Shaikh, 36 and Shubhada Shelke, 62, the civic body said.
The smoke spread through the building’s staircases and lifts were not used as a precautionary measure. Snorkel ladders were used to rescue residents stranded in the building, an official in the fire brigade control room here said
Some persons were still feared to be trapped in the building, he said.
Ten fire engines, four water tankers, officials of the Mumbai Police and electrical mechanics were at the spot, he said.
The cause of the fire will be known after an inquiry, he said.
Fire services chief P.S. Rahangdale said he asked police to seal the building and arrest its owner because firefighting equipment including water hydrants, sprinklers and hose couplings were malfunctioning in the building.
“Criminal offence will be declared ... The building will be labelled as unsafe and it will be evacuated. The fire
sprinklers were not working at all,” Fires are common in India, where building laws and safety norms are often flouted by buil ers and residents. Last December, a late-night fire in a Mumbai restaurant killed 15 people.