Toll in Kamala Building fire in Mumbai's Tardeo rises to 6

Fifteen of the injured were admitted to Bhatia Hospital, while four were sent to Nair Hospital. Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar said that six people needed oxygen support system because they had inhaled the smoke. The fire started at 7.38am and was brought under control after five hours.

The toll in the Mumbai building fire rose to six on Saturday after four more people succumbed to their injuries, BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) officials said. The level 3 fire broke out on the 18th floor of the 20-storey Kamala Building in Tardeo, Mumbai.

Fire brigade personnel carry out cooling operation after a blaze gutted a flat in Kamala building at Tardeo in Mumbai on Saturday. (Anshuman Poyrekar/HT Photo)

According to fire department, the blaze was reported at 7.28am on Saturday and declared level 3 at 8.10am.

The fire was caused by a short-circuit in an air conditioner in one of the apartments, news agency Associated Press quoted Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar as saying.

Residents said a big column of black smoke soon enveloped the building after the fire started. More than 90 people escaped the building on their own or helped by neighbours, they added.

Chief fire officer Hemant Parab said that around 30 people were rescued by fire Brigade using staircase. "The entire building was smoke-logged due to a common duct running along the length of building," he added.

Twenty one fire engines and seven jumbo tankers were deployed, said DCP Saurabh Tripathi. The blaze was brought under control after a five-hour effort.

"Traffic police and local police were involved in rescue operations. The most affected with 19th floor," added Tripathi.

As many as 19 people were injured in the hospital and rushed to Bhatia and Nair hospitals. While 15 of the injured were admitted to Bhatia Hospital, other four were sent to Nair Hospital.

Of the six deaths, five were reported from Nair Hospital. One of them had succumbed to smoke inhalation burns, one was charred to death and three had both burns and suffocation injuries, said dean Ramesh Bharmal. One person died at the Kasturba Gandhi Hospital.

Meanwhile, Pednekar told reporters that six old people needed oxygen support system because they had inhaled the smoke.

Maharashtra BJP president Mangal Prabhat Lodha called it an "unfortunate incident".

In August, a fire killed eight coronavirus patients at a hospital in Ahmedabad, a major city in Gujarat state. In December 2018, a late-night fire in a Mumbai restaurant killed 15 people.