‘Don’t know how I got out alive’: Doctor who survived Kamala Mills fire recounts horror

Dr Sulbha Arora, a gynaecologist, was wrapping up dinner with friends at the ‘1 Above’ restaurant on the rooftop of Kamala Mills when the fire broke out.

A survivor of the Kamala Mills fire that claimed 14 lives on early Friday morning described the entire ordeal in a series of tweets.

A view from the street after a fire broke out in a building in Mumbai on Friday. At least 14 people were killed and as many injured after a major fire in Kamala Mills Compound in Lower Parel. (PTI)

Dr Sulbha Arora, a gynaecologist, was wrapping up dinner with friends at the ‘1 Above’ restaurant on the rooftop of Kamala Mills when the fire broke out.

Speaking later to NDTV, Arora said she and her friends had just paid the bill and were leaving the restaurant when they spotted the fire. “It was around 12.15 am. We noticed a small fire in one corner...but within seconds, it spread so rapidly that the entire rooftop was engulfed. No one had time to react,” Arora told NDTV.

Calling the fire the ‘scariest thing’ she has ever survived, Arora described the ensuing chaos lead to a stampede and she was almost run over.

Arora also told NDTV that she and her friends used the kitchen exit to make their way out. According to her account, the fire spread very quickly, engulfing the premises within a matter of minutes.

In response to well-wishers, Arora also described how unsafe Kamala Mills was, and how no one had any clue where the fire exits were, trapping people.