Major Fire at a building in South Mumbai, several injured
At least four fire department officials including the Chief Fire Officer of the Mumbai Fire Brigade sustained injuries on Sunday evening when a fire broke out in a four-storey residential building causing it to collapse in the congested Kalbadevi area in South Mumbai.
The injured include a fireman who remained trapped inside the building till late evening.
Four hours after the fire started, efforts were on to put it out and the police said that casualty figure could go higher. Nearly 16 fire tenders had been pressed into service and more were on the way. Additionally, private water tankers were also used.
A fire department official said the fire started on the ground floor around 4 p.m. "It soon spread to the other parts of the building all the way to the top floor," The smoke emanating from the building had filled in the air several hundred metres away.
A statement by the fire department said the CFO and deputy CFO have suffered 40 per cent and 80 per cent burns respectively.
The narrow access road to the building posed further problems for fire tenders. The incident also led to chaotic traffic situation in the Lohar Chawl area close to the Crawford Market police headquarters.
Policemen on security duty had to clear the road several times as one ambulance after the other left the lane with patients.
