Kandivali kitchen owner succumbs to burn injuries, death toll rises to 4

Shivani Gandhi, owner of a catering service, died from severe burns after a gas leak fire. Five casualties were reported; fundraising for victims is ongoing.

MUMBAI: Shivani Gandhi, the owner of Shivani Catering Services, who was among the seven inside her workplace at Kandivali East when it caught fire due to a gas leak last week, succumbed to her injuries on Monday. Having sustained 90% burns, Gandhi, 51, who was swinging between life and death for over a week at the National Burns Centre (NBC) in Airoli, is the fourth casualty.

Kandivali kitchen owner succumbs to burn injuries, death toll rises to 5

Gandhi had been running her catering services for more than 12 years. Her business was doing well enough that she foresaw expansion plans. Initially, the catering service operated only from one gala in Ramkisan Mestri Chawl in Akurli, where the seating and kitchen were accommodated in one space. “Just 20 days back, they rented my gala and set up a kitchen, while the seats remained in the adjacent shop,” said Yogendra Mistry, the landlord. “They ran their operations here for a while. There was never a complaint, so I gave my place to them. They were all hardworking people, and the shop attracted crowds from the vicinity,” he added.

“She was a very helpful and kind person who looked after all of our needs. No matter what the deadline for food delivery was, she would always keep her calm,” said Parmeela Gupta, an employee who narrowly escaped the tragedy as she was late for work.

Gandhi’s friends and family, taken aback by the incident, decided to help the family in their hardship. “This tragedy has changed our lives forever,” said Namasvi. “The whole incident has been emotionally, physically and financially draining,” she lamented.

Namasvi launched a campaign called ‘From Flames to Hope: Fundraising for Shivani and burn survivors’ on Saturday. “We decided to cover costs since all the employees belonged to a less privileged background. Their families would be helpless without their support.”

The goal for the fundraisers for all victims was ₹1.25 crore, an estimate calculated from the bills of the first two days of hospitalisation. “Each day in the burn unit was a battle for survival, with painful dressings, surgeries, skin grafts, and continuous monitoring,” she stated in her campaign. As many as 450 donors contributed ₹22 lakh in just two days. “Even though the hospital has not charged for the bed, the medication and pathology charges alone are quite high. The other employees at the company were below the poverty line, and their families could not afford it,” said one of the friends. The money raised will be used to cover the bills. Any surplus will go towards the victim’s children’s education, she said.

Gandhi underwent one surgery, which treated 30% of the skin injuries. She was scheduled to undergo the next one on Tuesday. “We had planned to go ahead with stage two of surgery on Monday, but her health was deteriorating. We expected her to recover, so we pushed it by a day,” said Dr Sunil Keswani, director, NBC.

On September 24, as the six workers at Shivani catering services, along with the owner Shivani Gandhi, began their usual day at work, a gas leak from one of the cylinders set the place on fire at 9am. The fire was doused in about half an hour. On Monday, the Samta Nagar police registered an FIR against Mistry and Gandhi under Section 125 (acts endangering life or personal safety) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, as he is the shop owner, and she was the company’s owner. “Since Gandhi died, Mistry will be chargesheeted,” said a police officer.

The workers Nitu Gupta, 31, Raksha Joshi, 47, and Poonam Gautam, 28, died in the fire. Durga Gupta, 30, who sustained over 80% burns, continues to remain in a critical condition at NBC. Manaram Kumakat, 55, suffered 40% burns and is expected to recover soon.