Mumbai restaurant fire kills 15 people

NEW DELHI — At least 15 people were killed and more than 50 injured in a fire that broke out in a restaurant in Mumbai, India’s financial and entertainment capital, early today, officials said.

The fire quickly spread from the top-floor restaurant through a four-story building, fire official Balkrishna Kadam said.

More than 50 people were taken to a hospital. The dead included 11 women, fire officials said.

The building, located in the formerly industrial area of central Mumbai, houses several upscale restaurants that had moved in over the past few years to make it a popular nightlife destination, the New Delhi Television channel reported. “There was a stampede and someone pushed me. People were running over me even as the ceiling above me was collapsing in flames. Still don’t know how I got out alive,” Mumbai gynecologist Sulbha Arora tweeted.

She said she was at the restaurant when the fire started, and “before we knew it the whole place was engulfed in a matter of seconds.”

Several TV news channels operating from the compound had to shut down broadcasts, reportedly because of damage to their equipment.

Eight fire engines battled the blaze for more than five hours, Kadam said.

The cause of the fire, which started around 1 a.m. today, is under investigation.