Mumbai hospital fire: Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis orders inquiry, Centre offers ex-gratia

The fire in the Mumbai hospital which was first reported at 4:03pm on Monday soon escalated to a level three (major fire) within the next twenty minutes and then spread further. It was doused by 7:35 pm and the cooling operations started later in the evening.

Maharashtra’s chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday ordered an inquiry into the fire at the ESIC Hospital in Mumbai’s Andheri that claimed eight lives.

Maharashtra’s chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday ordered an inquiry into the fire at the ESIC Hospital in Mumbai’s Andheri that claimed eight lives. (PTI Photo)

“CM spoke to PM @narendramodi &UnionMinister @JPNadda on it. CM expressed grief over loss of lives&prayed for speedy recovery of the injured and assured that all required assistance will be given,” the chief minister’s office tweeted.

The death toll in the Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) Hospital fire rose to eight after five men, two women and a two-month-old infant were reported dead by Tuesday morning. More than 160 others, mostly patients and staff, were rescued from a massive blaze that engulfed the hospital in Andheri (East) on Monday.

Union minister of state (independent charge) for labour and employment Santosh Kumar Gangwar also announced a compensation of ₹10 lakh for families of those who lost their lives in the fire, ₹2 lakh for those critically injured and ₹1 lakh for other injured.

Read: Death toll in Mumbai hospital fire rises to 8, 147 rescued

The fire which was first reported at 4:03pm on Monday soon escalated to a level three (major fire) within the next twenty minutes and then spread further. It was doused by 7:35 pm and the cooling operations started later in the evening.

The BMC’s disaster management cell said one man and a woman remained unidentifiable till Tuesday morning by 3:30am. Aasaram Pujaram, 68, Manisha Kangutkar, 65, Tirthraj Gupta, 74, Chandrakant Mhatre, 69, and Babu Khan, 54, were among the dead.

Twenty-six people were discharged and 142 others were admitted in about seven hospitals nearby. The injured also included three firemen who received severe injuries during the rescue operation.

Mumbai’s fire department will start its preliminary inquiry in the incident after the cooling operations are over.