13 suffer asphyxiation after Ghatkopar building fire; 90 rescued | Mumbai News

The fire broke out at 1.30am in D-wing of Shanti Sagar Police Cooperative Housing Society in Ramabai Colony, trapping residents in thick smoke.

“The fire broke out in the electricity meter room on the ground floor. It was confined to the cables and other installations there. Due to the fire, smoke engulfed the entire building,” a fire officer said.

The officer in charge said the preliminary cause of the fire was a short circuit.

An eyewitness told HT that panic reigned in the building when residents on the ground floor raised an alarm about the fire as smoke began to fill their homes through the corridors, which are also the only way in and out of the building. Around 80-90 people were trapped on different floors, unable to get out due to the choking smoke. The rest ran to the terrace. Although it is a colony for police personnel, the wing has been rented out to ordinary citizens. The fire was doused at 2.06am.

Thirteen people were asphyxiated and were rushed to nearby Rajawadi Hospital, where one of them was treated urgently. Their condition was stable, but seven were discharged against medical advice. Five remain in hospital in stable condition, an officer said.

“Here, every household has an elderly person and children. Fortunately, no one fell or was injured in the chaos that followed the race to the terrace as our main entrance caught fire. The elderly also had a hard time climbing the stairs to the seventh floor and the terrace,” said Lakshmi Loke, a resident of the building.

“We first asked the residents to run to the terrace, because the exit from the ground floor is bordered on two sides by the meter and there was no way to escape,” the firefighter explained. “When the smoke had cleared a little, we rescued the few residents who remained in their homes using an external ladder. The others went down the stairs of the building after the fire was extinguished. In total, 80 to 90 people were rescued.”

Chandan Nikalje, secretary of the Ramabai Ambedkar Magasvargiya Gruhanirman Sanstha, has his office on the ground floor of the same building. He and the Sanstha members residing in the neighbouring buildings helped some residents escape the fire and smoke during the incident before the fire brigade arrived.

“I represent these people. Yesterday, when the incident happened, I was here at the Ganesh Pandal. I heard people screaming and smoke was coming out of the building. I called the youth of my Samstha and around 100-150 of them turned to me for help until the fire brigade arrived,” he added.

Residents said the building lacked adequate facilities. There is no lift, no fire exits and no proper ventilation in case of an incident, leaving the elderly and children vulnerable. “Children were vomiting because of the smoke until they reached the terrace of the building,” said one of them, shocked.

Residents said few of them resisted being admitted to the hospital out of fear. They wanted to go back and see what had happened to their house. Having not slept the entire night after the incident, they were now facing a shortage of water and electricity in the building.

“We had a discussion with the company secretary Ramchandra Sonavle. Once he approves and bears the cost of the new meters, they will be installed. But for now, we have asked for a temporary solution so that residents can get electricity because if there is no electricity, there is no water,” Nikalje said.

Residents claimed that the building is an SRA building and the status of the building is not supported by anyone.

“The incident happened last night at 1am. No authority asked us what happened. If the firefighters had arrived a little late, there would have been between 100 and 200 deaths,” the residents said.

Despite repeated attempts, Mahendra Kalyankar, CEO of the Slum Rehabilitation Authority, was not available for comment till the time of going to press.