President, PM, condole Mumbai blaze tragedy; 5 women among 7 killed

Mumbai: At least seven persons, including five women, were killed and another 61 injured when a major fire engulfed the parking lot of a high-rise in suburban Goregaon, here early on Friday, the BMC Disaster Control said.

President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis and others expressed grief over the tragedy and condoled the families of the victims.

The PM announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakhs to the kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 to the injured, while Chief Minister Eknath Shinde declared a compensation of Rs 5 lakhs to the kin of the dead and full free treatment for all the injured.

According to the BMC Disaster Control, the fire broke out around 3 a.m., in the 2000-sq. ft. parking lot of ground-plus seven-storied Jay Bhavani Building on MG Road, a SRA project.

It quickly spread to at least four cars and over two dozen two-wheelers and then caught the electrical meter box, staircase, and the flames reached the residential floors above, jolting the people awake from sleep.

The Mumbai Police, Mumbai Fire Brigade and other agencies rushed to the spot and managed to deploy ladders to rescue 30 residents from the building with shops and establishments partly occupying the ground floor.

The blaze claimed seven persons, comprising five females, including two minors, and 2 males, plus 61 more injured, among them 25 women.

While 47 persons still continue under treatment in different hospitals, the condition of five is described as "critical" and nine others have been discharged, some going against medical advice.

A majority of the victims were rushed in ambulances to the HBT Hospital and the Cooper Hospital and other nearby private hospitals. After massive efforts by the fire-fighters, the blaze was extinguished around 6.55 a.m., said the BMC Disaster Control, and the causes of the conflagration are being probed by the Mumbai Police.