Fifth body found in Mumbai’s Goregaon building two days after fire

Fire broke out on the seventh floor of the 11-storey Techniplex building on Sunday while workers were clearing scrap.

The body of a 22-year-old labourer, who had been missing since the fire at Techniplex building in Goregaon (west) on Sunday, was found finally on Tuesday morning, taking the death toll to five. Another nine workers have been injured in the incident.

Rescue operations after fire broke out at Techniplex complex in Goregaon on Sunday, May 27. (Pramopd Thakur/HT Photo)

Officials are trying to confirm the identity of the deceased, whose body was found inside the electric panel room. Officials suspect that in a bid to save himself, he tried to hide there.

Search operations have been underway for the past two days, after fire broke out on the seventh floor of the 11-storey glass facade. Fire officials are still at the spot, though they do not expect any more bodies to be found.

Aajeevika Bureau, a non-governmental outfit that represents migrant workers, said in all, 54 workers had been clearing scrap from the seventh floor for four days when the fire started. The seventh floor had two unoccupied offices.

Naimuddin Shah, 25, was found on the seventh floor, while Ram Avatar, 45, and Ram Tirathpal, 45, were found unconscious in a lift stuck between the fourth and fifth floors. They were declared dead after being rushed to hospital. The body of a fourth labourer Samsad Shah, 21, was found on Monday morning.

The 11-storey glass façade building, with a basement and two podiums, houses a bank and commercial properties. Fire brigade officials said excessive smoke inside the building made rescue operation difficult at the time.