Two firemen injured fighting blaze at Kothari Mansion in Fort area of Mumbai

The fire started on the first floor of the building at 4.16 am on Saturday morning and spread to the top floors quickly

Two firemen were injured in a major fire that gutted a British-era residential building in the Fort area on Saturday morning. The building — Kothari Mansion, which houses the popular Light of Asia Hotel — on Mint Road has been vacant since it was declared as extremely dilapidated four years ago.

Firemen douse the flames at Kothari Building in Fort area of Mumbai. (HT Photo)

The firemen, Suhas Mane and Sudhir Deolekar faced minor injuries to their arms and legs and were rushed to Nair hospital for treatment.

The fire started on the first floor of the building at 4.16 am on Saturday morning and spread to the top floors quickly. By the time the fire brigade reached the spot with 16 tenders and 11 water tankers, the building’s staircase had collapsed. Then, one portion of its east side also collapsed, with debris falling on the two firemen mounted on their aerial ladder and injuring them. The collapse also damaged the adjoining building, which is also old, leading to its immediate evacuation. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has lodged a first information report (FIR) against the owners of the building, Nagraj Jain and Sayali Sawant, at the MRA Marg police station.

Kothari Mansion is a cessed building under the Maharashtra Housing and Development Authority (Mhada) — one of nearly 14,000 old buildings in the island city that pay a cess or levy to Mhada for repairs. Four years ago, Mhada classified the mansion as C1 (extremely dilapidated/dangerous) and it was vacated. “There was no one present in the building at the time of the fire. It is not yet known how the fire started,” Dighavkar said.