Mumbai: Chembur tower fire claims 5 lives, hurts 2

The city watched another inferno claim the lives of five senior citizens on Thursday evening as a fire broke out on the 10th floor of a 16-storey MHADA building in Chembur, days after 11 people were killed in a fire at ESIC Hospital in Marol.

The incident took place around 7.50 pm in the B-wing of Sargam Society, which is located in Tilak Nagar near Ganesh Garden. Witnesses said a short circuit at a flat on the 10th floor which was decked up in Christmas lighting could have sparked the blaze.

Though the fire engine and five tenders were rushed to the locality and even got there on time, they faced difficulty getting to the building through narrow lanes, which were lined with vehicles of many of the building's residents. The building's three wings have 145 flats but the society only has 60 designated parking spots.

Fire officials said the building's firefighting system was not functioning. Residents Shankar Lane and Mayank Patel alleged that the building, which is five years old, has not been granted an occupation certificate by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation as it had failed to comply with fire safety norms.

The injured residents were rushed to Rajawadi Hospital in Ghatkopar. Five were declared dead. Their names are: Sunita Joshi, 72, Bhalchandra Joshi, 72, Suman Shrinivas Joshi, 83, Sarala Suresh Gangar, 52, and Lakshmiben Premji Gangar, 83. One of the senior citizens is the mother of senior police inspector Sanjay Joshi of Vikhroli police station.

Another resident, Shrinivas Joshi, 86, was hospitalised after he nearly suffocated. A fireman, Chhagan Singh, 28 was also admitted to the civic-run facility and his condition is said to be stable.

The Mumbai Fire Brigade had declared it a level-II fire on a scale of 5, but after a blast in the AC unit of the house, the fire and smoke spread rapidly to the higher floors, making the fire level-III.

More than 310 fires have been reported from across the city in December alone, in a smouldering indication of the indifference towards inspection and implementation of fire safety norms. The month's death toll from blazes has topped 20.

The city has witnessed major fire incidents in the past two months, most concentrated in the last week. On December 17, at the ESIC Hospital in Andheri claiming 11 lives including that of a week-old baby. On Sunday, two incidents of fire were reported. A level-III fire broke out in the basement of a ground-plus-seven building at Khar around 10 am. No casualties were reported.

Following this, around 4 pm, another fire broke out at a cloth factory at Kandivali's Damu Nagar where four people were killed. A part of the factory collapsed due to the fire.
Last December, the fire at Kamala Mills compound claimed 14 people.