Mumbai's Crystal Tower Fire: Zen Sadavarte and her art of saving lives from fire

A 11 year old Zen Sadavarte's cool demeanour and applying her fire safety lessons saved many lives in the Crystal Tower fire. As the fire spread and smoke started to choke occupants of the Crystal Tower, 11 year old Zen first shared her fire rescue tips with her parents and then with other occupants. She also passed the information to three families who had gathered there.

A student of Don Bosco International School, Zen had been given a training on what to do when fire occurs by her school teachers. "I remembered the first thing they had asked us was to stay calm and ask others too.That is what I told my parents. Later, I asked them to wet a cloth and cover the face and breathe through it," said Zen.

"I was barely able to breathe. I was in kitchen and shouting for help. The smoke was literally choking when my daughter first asked us to to put some water on cloth and breathe which allowed some fresh air in the midst of smoke," said Jayshri Patil, mother of Zen who suffered some burns due to hit air. The residents could not even rush to the terrace as it was locked.

"Since the fire had started on the lower floor, it came up quickly and we could not understand. There was too much confusion. That is when she told us to cover ourselves with wet cloth. We were up there for almost two hours before the help could reach us. We survived breathing through that," said Gunavrat Sadavarte, Zen's father.