Mumbai fire: Fifth body found in building, two days after fire

The Mumbai Fire brigade has also issued a notice to the building owner as the fire fighting system installed in the building was partially functioning

The body of a 22-year-old labourer Abdul Raqeeb Khan, who had been missing since the fire broke out at Techniplex building in Goregaon (West) on Sunday, was finally found on Tuesday morning, taking the death toll to five. Another nine persons including eight fire officials have been injured in the incident.

Mumbai, India - May 27, 2018: A worker was rescued as fire broke put at Techniplex complex at Goregaon in Mumbai, India, on Sunday, May 27, 2018. (Photo by Pramod Thakur/ Hindustan Times) (HT PHOTO)

The Mumbai Fire brigade has also issued a notice to the building owner as the fire fighting system installed in the building was partially functioning. “The building’s fire detection system and water sprinklers were not working. In addition, the electric duct was not properly covered,” said PS Rahangdale, chief fire officer. Fire brigade will submit the fire report in the next four days which will ascertain the cause of fire.

Another senior fire official said that the smoke had filled up with the entire building which made the rescue operation difficult. Due to the building’s glass façade, the fire kept gathering intensity resulting in a tough task for the firefighters. The eight fire brigade officials admitted in the hospital suffered from excessive smoke inhalation.

The fifth labourer 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 façade, Techniplex complex in Goregaon west situated on SV road.

As per the NGO working for migrant workers, Aajeevika Bureau, 54 workers had been clearing scrap from the seventh floor for the past four days. The seventh floor, where the fire broke out, has two offices and both are unoccupied. Naimuddin Shah, 25, was found on the seventh floor and Ram Avatar, 45, Ram Tirathpal, 45, were found unconscious in a lift stuck between the fourth and fifth floors. They were declared dead after being rushed to a hospital. The body of the fourth labourer Samsad Shah, 21, was found on Monday morning.

Seven were trapped when the fire broke out. Mumbai fire brigade had rescued five on Sunday, including 35-year-old man named Wasim Salmani, who was stuck at the seventh floor, was sent to Siddharth hospital after he sustained cuts to his right hand. Salmani was discharged on Monday.