‘He might have survived’: Mumbai mayor on man who fell to his death in high-rise fire

Arun Tiwari, who has been working at One Avighna Park for a few years now, was trapped on the 19th floor, where the fire had erupted

Mumbai mayor Kishori Pednekar criticised the lack of proper training given to private security guards after a 30-year-old security personnel, Arun Tiwari, fell to his death from the 19th floor of a 61-storey residential building One Avighna Park in Currey Road area of Central Mumbai, where a major fire had broken out on Friday, reported news agency PTI.

Mumbai mayor said Arun Tiwari lost his grip and fell to his untimely demise before the firefighters could put up a ladder to save him. (PTI)

"They (security guards) had 15 minutes to take necessary steps. Had they caught him in a bedsheet below or put mattresses on the floor, he might have survived," Pednekar told reporters while visiting the site of the fire.

Tiwari, who has been working at One Avighna Park for a few years now, was trapped on the 19th floor, where the fire had erupted. In a video that has since gone viral on social media, Tiwari can be seen dangling from a balcony as he slowly loses his grip and falls. He was rushed to KEM hospital where doctors declared him dead.

"After the fire broke out, Arun Tiwari, a security guard of the building, rushed to the 19th floor. But he soon realised that he was trapped and in order to save himself from the blaze, he went to the balcony of the flat, where the fire had erupted. He held onto the balcony's railing and kept precariously dangling from there. He clung to the railing for several minutes before losing his grip and falling to his death," an official told reporters.

The Mumbai mayor took to Twitter to inform citizens that she “rushed” to the One Avighna Park as soon as she heard of the fire and that Tiwari lost his grip and fell to his untimely demise before the firefighters could put up a ladder to save him.