Out of the 40 injured, 25 have been sent to HBT Trauma Care Hospital, while 15 are being treated at Cooper Hospital.
At least seven people were killed, while five others are in critical condition after a fire broke out at a seven-storey residential building in the Mumbai suburb of Goregaon West around 3:05am on Friday. Around 51 people have been injured in the fire.
As per officials, the fire spread through shops on the ground flood, scrap material, several parked vehicles, meter cabin, rags, plywood along with other materials on the ground floor, staircase and household articles including doors, windows, furniture in about 2000 sq.ft area.
People were stranded on various floors including the terrace.
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Out of the 40 injured, 36 were sent to Hinduhridaysamrat Balasaheb Thackeray Medical College (HBT) hospital, while 15 were being treated at Cooper Hospital. Among these, three seriously injured patients were shifted to Seven Hills Hospital.
Among the dead are — two minors, three women and one man.
Chief Fire Officer Ravindra Ambulgekar said that the building was constructed in 2006 under the Slum Rehabilitation scheme and had no fire fighting system. The lift was old and significant amount of smoke travelled through lift duct.
As per officials, the fire was reported at Jay Bhavani building located on Goregaon’s MG road.
The fire was extinguished after nearly four hours, around 6:54am.
Eights fire engines, five jumbo water tankers, three automatic turn tables, one turn table ladder, a quick response vehicle and an ambulance were rushed to the spot. Ladders and Breathing Apparatus Set (BA Sets) were used in the rescue process.
Deputy Chief Fire Officer, District Fire Officer, Assistant Divisional Fire Officer, three Senior Station Officers and three Station Officers, Assistant Commissioner, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation officials and NGO personnel were present at the spot of the incident.
Maharashtra’s Deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said on X, formerly Twitter, “Pained to know about loss of lives in the fire incident at Goregaon, Mumbai. We are in touch with BMC & Mumbai Police officials & all the assistance is being provided. My deepest condolences to the families who lost their loved ones and wishing speedy recovery to the injured ones.”
Goregaon MLA Vidya Thakur said that the reason behind the fire breaking out was yet to be ascertained. “The reason behind the fire is yet to be ascertained. Due to prevailing smoke, people could not get out of the building and they moved to terrace. 7 deaths are confirmed as of now. Efforts are underway to provide relief to affected families.”
One of the relatives of a victim claimed that fire spread due to a short circuit. He said, “Our family members and relatives were there. My aunt has died. A short circuit occurred at around 1.30 am and then the fire spread… The fire spread to the 7th floor… From our family, one dead body is with them, they said they will hand it over in an hour.”
Another victim’s relative said that her family did not find out about the fire until 8am on Friday. She lost two relatives to the fire. “A relative of a victim says, “We came to know about the fire at 8 am… When we came and checked here, we came to know that my sister-in-law and a daughter from our family had died… A lot of people have been injured, and two people from my family have died.”
Actor Manish Chaturvedi, an eyewitness of the incident, told news agency PTI, “There was a burning smell in the air while we were asleep last night and that’s how we came to know that a fire had broken out in the neighbouring building. We immediately took precautions in our building complex and informed the fire services.”
