Six die in Mumbai highrise fire; grandkids carry 86-year-old out

MUMBAI: Barely two months after a fire on the 19th floor of a highrise killed one person in Lower Parel, six persons were killed and 24 injured in a blaze that broke out also on the 19th floor of a tower in Tardeo on Saturday morning.

The fire started around 6.45am at the 20-storeyed Sachinam Heights, situated opposite Bhatia Hospital in Tardeo, fire brigade officials said. Many of the building’s residents were still asleep when the blaze began. They said when they realized what was happening, the lights had gone out and there was thick black smoke all along the building’s corridors as they rushed to escape from the staircase. A short circuit was the likely cause of the fire. Officials said three persons died of burns and three others died due to suffocation as they inhaled smoke. While five of the six victims were identified, the body of a man at Nair hospital was yet to be identified till late Saturday. Police said the body was charred beyond recognition and they would have to do DNA tests of family members to identify the man.

The five other dead were identified as Hitesh Subodh Mistry, 40, Mausmi Subodh Mistry, 45, and Meena Subodh Mistry, 65, who stayed in Flat No. 1904, Purshottam Chopdekar, 42, who stayed on the 16th floor, and Manjuben Kantharia, another 19th floor resident. Of the 24 injured, 17 people were still admitted in hospitals at the time of going to press. The fire is suspected to have spread through the electrical duct right through the length of the building, resulting in thick smoke all over. Flat No 1904, where the fire burst out, was gutted, along with parts of corridors.

While the building, which is the rehabilitation component of a redevelopment project being carried out by Kamala Group, received an Occupation Certificate in 2015, fire brigade officials said its firefighting equipment was not functional, nor had the building submitted the mandatory bi-annual fire audit report.

PM Modi expressed grief over the incident and announced on Twitter that ex-gratia of 2 lakh would be provided to family members of each of the deceased from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund. He added that the injured would be given 50,000 each. State tourism minister Aaditya Thackeray, who visited the site, said the government will provide compensation of 5 lakh to family members of each of the deceased.