A student was burnt to death and three others including a newly married couple sustained critical injuries after a massive fire broke out in Anudutt Apartments in Navi Peth early on Saturday.
As many as 25 residents stuck on different floors of the building were evacuated to safety.
In the massive fire, 25 motorcycles parked on the premises of the apartment were gutted. To make matter worse, the petrol tanks of two motorcycles caught fire, increasing the intensity of the blaze.
The fire spread in a very short span of time to different parts of the building due to the fuel in the
motorcycle tanks, which caught fire. The fire erupted in the parking lot of the building located close to Vitthal Mandir in Navi Peth. It has two entrances with the main entrance facing towards Ganjve Chowk.
According to the fire brigade department, the exact cause of the fire was a short circuit that occurred in the meter box located in the parking lot of the apartment. According to fire brigade officials involved in the evacuation work, the three injured, all residents of the building, have been admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of Sassoon General Hospital.
They include the newly-married couple, Gaurav Mahaveer Athanikar (32) and wife Shalmali (28). A student, Atul Naryan Agarwal (25), was also injured. The deceased student has been identified as Balaji Madanmohan Jaju (25) and he originally hailed from Karnataka. He died as he could not bear the thick smoke and was choked to death, the police said.
Erandwane station fire officer Rajesh Jagtap said Gaurav came down the steps to the parking lot to find out what had happened after the fire broke out. However, he slipped and fell into the raging fire. Shalmali and Balaji too fell down the staircase when they tried to escape and faced the flames. Atul, who is also a student, was found in an unconscious condition.
The trio sustained severe face and bodily injuries and their condition was critical according to the doctors who informed the fire department about their medical progress.
Anudutt Apartments has seven floors. Jaju stayed in a flat taken on rent on the fourth floor. The Athanikars stayed on the second floor and were found with burn injuries and in an unconscious condition.
Seventeen families were staying in the building at the time of the incident, the police said.
“Repeated blasts were heard when the fire erupted. Given the chaos, we could not tell what exactly caused the blaze. But the presence of two-wheelers and the fuel inside the tanks helped to spread the fire over a huge area gutting all the parked two-wheelers,” said Vidya Patil, a witness, who along with her friend Sonali Latkar were the first to inform fire brigade of the incident. Patil and Latkar stay in Sai Samartha Apartments located in front of Anudutt Apartments.
Five fire engines and one water tanker and 35 firemen were deployed at the building to fight the fire. It was finally brought under control at 4.10 am. Two ambulances were pressed into action to ferry the injured to safety.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}