Fire in Sakinaka electric shop kills two workers

Two workers were killed after a fire broke out in an electric and hardware store near Sakinaka metro station in Andheri East on Monday morning

Two workers were killed after a fire broke out in an electric and hardware store near Sakinaka metro station in Andheri East on Monday morning.

Mumbai, India - March 27, 2023: Firefighters at the site after a fire broke out in a hardware shop, in which at least two people were killed, near Sakinaka Metro Station at Andheri, in Mumbai, India, on Monday, March 27, 2023. (Photo by Vijay Bate/HT Photo) (HT PHOTO)

Mumbai fire brigade chief Sanjay Manjrekar said that nearly 12 people were inside the shop when the blaze was reported around 2 am. “While others could run out, the two were trapped after part of the upper loft collapsed. The presence of electrical goods helped spread the fire.”

The deceased have been identified as Rakesh Gupta, 22, and Ganesh Sabaram Devashi, 23, who hailed from Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan respectively. Their bodies were handed over to their siblings and cousins who were in the city, the police said.

As per the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), Raj Shree electric and hardware shop was a ground plus two lofts structure. The collapse of the loft delayed the rescue operations and the BMC had to call in bulldozers to break open the front part of the shop, civic officials said.

Mahadev Shinde, assistant municipal commissioner of L ward, said, “A lot of plastic and electrical material stored inside melted which also hampered the efforts.”

“Excess material in the shop also affected the operations. Besides, fire brigade personnel removed four cylinders from the store,” an official from the buildings department of L ward said.

As a precaution, the nearby shops were evacuated and cylinders from the adjoining shops and houses were also removed. The fire was extinguished after 9 hours, around 11 am. However, the cooling operations went on for a few more hours as the BMC had to call in an excavator to remove the materials from the shop. The upper lofts were later pulled down by the BMC.

The blaze was confined to electric wiring, electric installations, and stocks of hardware, the disaster management control room of the civic body said.