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‘Smoke, screams surrounded us’: Mumbai Fire survivors recount horror
After the fire broke out, the residents took refuge inside the banquet hall of Matru Mandir society, adjacent to the Kamala building.
The residents of Sachinam Heights in south Mumbai said the fire in the high-rise building that killed six people and injured 15 broke out around 7 in the morning while most of them were asleep.
The residents said the fire probably began inside the wire duct that runs from the ground floor to the top of the 20-storey building, which is also known as the Kamala building in the neighbourhood. Although the fire was confined between the 19th and 20th floors, the entire building was engulfed in smoke, they said.
“I opened the door at 7 am to collect milk that was delivered by the milkman. I saw the entire corridor of my floor filled with thick smoke that was coming out from the wire duct. We understood there must have been a fire. We woke up the remaining members and rushed out of the building,” said Nanda Chavan, a resident of the fourth floor.
Chavan’s sister Shubhangi Salkhar, along with her husband Dilip and 10-year-old son Dhaval, is admitted at the Bhatia hospital. Chavan said her sister and her family reside in the 13th floor of the building.
“After we came down, I started to look for my sister and her family members, but couldn’t find them,” she said. “After half an hour, we saw fire brigade personnel bringing them down.”
Kamlakar Dalvi (64), a member of the managing committee of the building who stays on the fourth floor, said that the fire broke out around 7 am in the morning, when most residents were fast asleep.
“The morning water comes between 7-8 am regularly, and I was going to check the water valve when I saw smoke and heard screams from our neighbours as well. We alerted the remaining flats on our floor and managed to get out of the building,” said Dalvi. “The fire brigade arrived around 7:30 am and started the rescue operation. As most of the members were sleeping, rescue operation became haphazard, as many of us had to go from door to door and alert the people.”
A resident requesting anonymity said that the building was constructed in 2013, and between 2013 and 2016, there was an ongoing court case between the builder and some tenants who used to live on the plot earlier, another resident said, requesting anonymity. The building is a redevelopment project and the plot on which it is built used to be a slum, where Dalvi lived earlier.
After the fire broke out, the residents took refuge inside the banquet hall of Matru Mandir society, adjacent to the Kamala building. Nearly 200 residents are staying inside the banquet hall at present and members of the Matru Mandir society have arranged basic civic amenities and food for the people. Also, many residents shifted to their neighbours’ and relatives’ places.
“There were fire extinguishers in the building, but most of the residents didn’t know how to operate them, so we had to rush out,” said Dalvi. “Also, the fire safety alarm wasn’t working and we couldn’t hear any warming bell.”
Another resident, Vijay Aperaj (61), said that after the fire broke out, the building went dark as the electricity was cut off.
“All the electrical appliances stopped working and we opened the doors to check. We saw smoke coming out of the duct and also felt a burning smell,” said Aperaj. “We rushed out from the building immediately with all our family members. The interiors became suffocating.”
There are two refuge floors inside the building, one on the eighth and the other on the fourteenth floor. However, Dalvi said the residents preferred to go downstairs instead of going to the refuge floors.
There are 135 flats in the building, eight on each floor. Out of these, four are 315 sq ft and two are 225 and 250 sq ft each. The building is quite cramped and there is not much space between the flats.
The building is located in a lane adjacent to Tardeo Road. The firefighting vehicles were parked at the entry point of the lane from where the water pipes were pulled inside and evacuation operation was carried out.
A senior fire brigade official, present at the spot said that even
Although the exact cause of fire is yet to be ascertained, preliminary findings suggest there could have been a short-circuit inside the wire duct, a fire brigade official said.
“The fire system was defunct and two flats have been severely damaged and there have been some serious loss of properties as well,” the official said, declining to be named. “The fire system in the building was defunct. Had it been working, the proportion of loss could have been lower.”
Meanwhile, Gamdevi police has registered an accidental death report in connection with the incident.
“We have registered an accidental death report in the matter, as six people have died and several others have been injured. We will write to all concerned departments like the fire brigade and BEST (Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport), and depending on their reports, decide on the further course of action,” said police inspector Rampyare Rajbhar of Gamdevi police station.
“We are presently recording statements of the victims and eyewitnesses,” Rajbhar said.
