Blaze in Mumbai pub kills 14

Fourteen people, including 11 women, were killed and 13 injured when a fire broke out in a commercial building at Kamala Mill Compound in Mumbai’s Lower Parel on Thursday night.

According to fire officials, the fire first broke out at the roof of pub- cumrestaurant 1Above on the fifth floor at 12.30 am and then spread rapidly to an adjoining eatery — Mojo’s Bistro. Fire vehicles reached the spot within 10 minutes but it took the firemen around three hours to bring the blaze under control. All 14 victims died due to asphyxiation. The injured were admitted to various hospitals. A seriously injured victim was taken to the National Burn Centre in Airoli.

K h u s h b u Bansali, who was celebrating her 29th birthday at 1Above, was among those killed.

As the fire erupted, there was panic among people, who were partying at the two eateries. In an attempt to save themselves, most tried to take shelter in a washroom at 1Above. But the decision proved fatal as they were trapped inside and died due to suffocation, said an eyewitness.

Unconfirmed reports suggested that the lone exit shared by three restaurants, including London Taxi Gastrobar, was locked when the fire broke out.

The blaze also spread to the next building, which houses the offices of Times Network, including Times Now, Mirror Now, ET Now and Zoom TV and TV9 Marathi. The TV channels went off- air as their transmission dishes were affected.

Though fire officials said the cause of the fire was unknown, a short circuit at 1Above is being suspected as the cause for the blaze. Fire officials said the fire fighting system of the entire building was not working.

“The fire system was dysfunctional. We had issued fire NoC to 1Above, The lone emergency exit shared by three restaurants, including Mojo’s Bistro and London Taxi Gastrobar, was locked when the incident occurred The restaurants were on the fifth floor of Trade House Building in Kamala Mills compound that is a popular nightlife destination Khushbu Bhansali, celebrating her 29th birthday, was among those killed The pub 1Above allegedly did not follow fire safety norms The blaze spread fast as the pub roof was made of bamboo with tarpaulin sheets Cops booked Ritesh Sanghvi, Jigar Sanghvi and Abhijeet Mankar of C Grade Hospitality, the company which manages the pub; 5 BMC men suspended for negligence while that of Mojo’s Brito has to be ascertained. But we found hookah accessories in 1Above, which is illegal. The top portion of the rooftop of both restaurants was also covered illegally. There were encroachments in the staircases leading to the top floor. We also found gas cylinders during our fire fighting exercise,” said Kailash Hivrale, deputy chief fire officer of Mumbai Fire Brigade.

Taking a serious note of this, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation ( BMC) has suspended five officials of GSouth ward for negligence and has also transferred assistant commissioner Prashant Sapkale with immediate