Bhiwandi fire: ‘We are alive because we jumped off in time’

For the three workers who were sleeping on the makeshift first floor of the godown in Bhiwandi, where eight people died in a blaze early Saturday morning, it was a close escape.

For the three workers who were sleeping on the makeshift first floor of the godown in Bhiwandi, where eight people died in a blaze early Saturday morning, it was a close escape.

Eight-people-were-charred-to-death-and-three-others-injured-after-fire-broke-out-at-a-timber-warehouse-in-Bhiwandi-in-Thane-Praful-Gangurde-HT-photo

By the time the trio -- Vinod Yadav, 21, Bahadur Chavan, 18, and Gire Chavan, 21 -- woke up, the ground floor was engulfed in flames. Realising there was no way to escape, they jumped off the first floor. They suffered minor (10-30%) burns.

Raghunath Rathod, additional civil surgeon, Thane civil hospital, said, “Yadav suffered 25-30% burns on face, hands and leg, while Bahadur has burns (22-24%) on his face, hands and back. Gire suffered 10% burns on his face and left hand. They are undergoing treatment and will be under observation for more than 48 hours.”

Gire, who has been working at the godown for more than two years for Rs 9,000 a month, said, “We use to stay in the godown. Around 10 of us were sleeping, when the fire broke out. We woke up as we started feeling hot. We jumped off in time, but in the process our clothes caught fire.”

“We didn’t realize what was happening. Our clothes had caught fire. Locals came to our rescue and we were sent to the Indira Gandhi Hospital. We were later shifted to the Thane civil hospital. Most of us are from Nepal,” said Bahadur.

Govind Yadav, 30, who visited the trio, said, “When I called up my relatives, I found out the trio was injured in the fire. We are glad they woke up in the nick of time and their lives could be saved.”