INDIA. Mumbai: Seven persons, including three women and two minor girls, were killed and over 40 persons injured in a massive fire that engulfed the parking lot of a high-rise building in Goregaon, in North Mumbai, in the wee hours of Friday.
The fire, which broke out at around 3 a.m. in the 2000-sq. feet parking lot of Jay Bhavani Building, a Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) building located on MG Road, Goregaon West, caught four cars and 30 two-wheelers and spread to the electrical meter box, staircase, and then the flames reached the residential floors above.
The shops, scrap material, rags and vehicles on the ground floor were the only things affected by the fire, while the staircase, doors, windows and other residential structures were destroyed on the higher floors of the building.
The blaze was extinguished around 6:55 a.m. by the Mumbai Fire Brigade using eight fire engines, five jumbo tankers, a water tank, a turntable ladder and a quick-reaction vehicle. Six hose lines, including three small hose lines, two big hose lines and one high-pressure line of eight motor pumps, were used. Over 30 people were rescued using ladders as well as breathing apparatus sets, Additional Fire Divisional Officer (ADFO) Somnath Bhaye told the Transcontinental Times.
15 of the injured were taken to Cooper Hospital (Vile Parle West), while 36 were taken to Hinduhridaysamrat Balasaheb Thackeray (HBT) Medical College Hospital (Jogeshwari East). Of the 15 admitted to Cooper Hospital, one died, one was critical, and nine others were stable. Four others were discharged after treatment. Amongst the 36 taken to the HBT Hospital, six were reported declared dead before admission, four were critical, and 26 were stable.
Taking to X, Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed grief over the loss of lives due to the fire incident and announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh from PMNRF to the next of kin of those who died. The Prime Minister also said the injured would be given Rs 50,000.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who visited the spot, announced Rs 5 lakh ex-gratia for the kin of those who died in the fire incident. Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis also expressed grief and said he was in touch with the BMC and the Mumbai Police and that all assistance was being provided.
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