2 dead in fire at Girgaon chowpatty building

Mother-son duo found dead in a fire in Mumbai building. Fire spread quickly due to wood, causing panic among residents. Cause of fire believed to be a short circuit.

Mumbai: A mother-son duo were found in a charred state, one in the bedroom and the other in the bathroom, after a level 2 fire erupted in the ground floor staircase of Jeethabhai building in Girgaon Chowpatty at around 9:15pm on Saturday. The deceased were identified as Hiren Shah, 60, and Nalini Shah, 82.

Mumbai, India – Dec 03, 2023: Followup spot of Fire at Gomati Bhavan, Girgaon, in Mumbai, India, on Sunday day, Dec 03, 2023. (Photo by Bhushan Koyande/HT Photo)

Eyewitnesses said the fire spread almost instantly, the flames climbing the staircase of the ground plus three storied building, helped by the wood all around. It entered one of the two flats on the third floor, where there were six people – the 82-year-old Nalini Shah, her son Hiren Shah and his wife, their two sons and one of their wives, according to Mala Swami, who used to undertake odd jobs for the family.

“It was just about time for me to wash utensils. So, I was going to their house,” said Swami, recalling how the fire stopped him in his tracks. Upstairs, there was panic. One of Hiren Shah’s sons climbed down the pole connecting the balconies, jumping as he neared the ground. The others escaped to an under-construction building beside theirs, after workers at the site placed a wooden plank connecting the building with their window.

But Nalini, who was treated at Saifee Hospital for respiratory ailments and discharged eight days ago, was bedridden, and could not leave the apartment even as it was engulfed by fire. Her son Hiren too urged other family members to escape but refused to leave without his mother. Their bodies were found in a charred condition around midnight and taken to JJ Hospital at around 12:35am on Sunday.

“I too would have lost my life if I had been upstairs,” said a tearful Swami, who lost ₹30,000 he intended to send home to Madurai from his salary of ₹40,000. The fire also destroyed his identity documents such as his aadhaar and pan card, which were in the apartment.

Other residents of the building were evacuated with the help of neighbours and fire fighters. Those on the ground floor screamed for help once the fire erupted, spurring Hemlata Kirtikar, a neighbour, into action.

“My brother is a mechanic, so we have a lot of tools with us. There’s also a banquet hall a little ahead, so once they got wind of the fire, all of them came and started helping. Some broke the grill on the ground floor to create an escape route. We threw a saree of mine on the second floor and got a ladder, through which residents on the first and second floor were evacuated,” said Kirtikar. She said four fire extinguishers that were brought proved ineffective in controlling the blaze.

A green cloth covering the adjacent under-construction building also caught fire, said Saloni Majithia, who lives in the opposite building. “I could see the flames leaping from my balcony. All of us also had to evacuate, and I spent the night at someone else’s house. I was scared for my life and house,” said Majithia.

The fire brigade arrived 30 minutes late, said neighbours, although a fire official said they reached the site within 15 minutes of getting a call. Fire fighters rescued another nine people from the building, including a couple and their child from the other flat on the third floor. Their apartment was not affected much by the fire because of the wind direction, surmised Kiritkar.

Fire fighters battled with the blaze from two buildings on either side of Jeethabhai building till the early hours of Sunday. Sixteen fire-fighting vehicles including eight fire engines and six jumbo tankers pressed into service and the fire was brought under control at around 12:35pm, while cooling operations lasted till 3:35am, said chief fire officer Ravi Ambulgekar. The preliminary cause of the fire was a short circuit, he said.

On Sunday morning, residents of the building including family members of the deceased were busy emptying their house of valuables and shifting to houses of relatives or friends. Bamboo and wooden sticks were brought in to reinforce the crumbling staircase to ensure there are no further mishaps.