10 kids in Virar hospital rushed to terrace after fire in building

MUMBAI: A fire broke out in a building that houses a children's nursing home in Virar (east), leaving at least 10 kids and their parents on tenterhooks for at least an hour on Thursday morning. No one was injured. At least 30 people, including children, who had rushed to the terrace were escorted downstairs by firemen. The building had no fire-fighting equipment.

Around 11am, smoke started to billow from the two-storey Matru Krupa Building that houses Abhinav Children's Hospital on the second floor. While no one was admitted to the hospital, those who were visiting rushed to the terrace.

Shehnaz Qazi, who had come with her two-year-old son, said that she heard people screaming about a fire in the building. "I, along with mothers of other kids, rushed to the terrace which had its door open," said Qazi. "The rain kept us from inhaling much smoke."

People huddled on the terrace were herded out of the building after an hour.

Fire brigade officials of said that a short circuit in the meter box on the ground floor possibly sparked the fire. An official said that rainwater that may have seeped into the electric meter box possibly sparked the short circuit. While the nursing home is on the second floor, the ground and first floors of the building were vacant.