As per the civic authorities, most of the dead suffered almost 100 per cent burns; two bodies were charred beyond recognition.
In a tragic incident that shook the city on Monday morning, 12 people were killed in a fire that broke out in a small-scale condiment factory in Saki Naka. The factory, Bhanu Farsan, situated on Khairani road in Makhriya compound, manufactured and sold farsan and was operating without any licenses from the civic body. All the 12 deceased were workers and were fast asleep when the fire that gutted the premises broke out at around 3.45 am. As per the civic authorities, most of the dead suffered almost 100 per cent burns; two bodies were charred beyond recognition.
The primary fire report by BMC states that the fire started because of an electrical wiring short-circuit, however it spread rapidly when fuelled by the oil and gas cylinders stored in the kitchen. "There were 20 people inside the factory, of which eight managed to escape," Deputy fire officer, DK Ghosh said, "However, 12 others got trapped as the fire exaggerated after LPG gas leaked from the cylinder.
"The knob of the cylinder melted due to the heat."
Chief fire officer PS Rahangdale said, "It was a small structure and high quantity of oil was stored in the kitchen. So many people should not reside in such a small place. The fire spread fast due to the oil and many workers could not escape. They died due to intense smoke and heat."
The structure was registered as shop, but a family of three lived on the ground floor. The family members escaped without any injuries.
Municipal Commissioner Ajoy Mehta has asked the chief fire officer and the L Ward officer to investigate whether the structure was legal and had the permits required to run commercial activities. The report has to be submitted in 15 days.
The commercial structure is owned by Sanjay Makhriya and was rented by Ramesh Bhanushali, who ran Bhanu farsan factory. Dr Vidya Thakur, medical superintendent at Rajawadi Hospital, Ghatkopar, said, "The victims died due to suffocation and also due to burn injuries. The post-mortem has been conducted, and reports will be submitted to Saki Naka police."
Meanwhile, the Saki Naka police have detained the supervisor of the farsan shop and will be questioning the owner Ramesh Bhanushali as well.
ND Reddy, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone 10) said, "Primary probe shows that the owner of the factory violated several norms. We will be booking the supervisor and the owner of the factory for causing death due to negligence. Prima Facie, the fire erupted due to short-circuit and gas leak caused it to spread rapidly. We are waiting for reports from the civic body for further investigation."
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