Mumbai: A 62-year-old woman died, and her 34-year-old niece was injured in a fire that broke out in a flat in a 13-storey residential building in Vile Parle East on Monday, casting a pall over a family preparing for a wedding scheduled for the following day.
The deceased has been identified as Bhavana Satra, the sister-in-law of the groom’s father, who owned the flat in which the fire broke out. Her niece, identified as Aneree Satra, is undergoing treatment at Nanavati Hospital with 6% burns and is reported to be stable. The two women were visiting their family living in the building for wedding-related rituals when the incident occurred, residents said.
Fire officials said the cause of the Level-1 (small) blaze is yet to be ascertained, and a detailed investigation has been initiated.
The incident occurred in a flat on the 13th and topmost floor of Suvidha Pearl, a residential building on Pheroze Shah Mehta Road, at around 9.51 am, officials from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s disaster management department said.
According to residents, a religious ritual was underway in the flat earlier in the day, which involved a small ceremonial pyre. The family later went down to the seventh floor for breakfast, when neighbours alerted them to smoke billowing from the apartment. Bhavana and Aneree Satra rushed back to the 13th-floor flat along with two others.
When they opened the main door, the fire suddenly intensified, releasing dense smoke into the corridor and common areas. While the others managed to flee towards the staircase, Bhavana Satra, an asthma patient, collapsed near a duct and lost consciousness. She suffered severe smoke inhalation and burn injuries, and later succumbed. It remains unclear how Aneree Satra sustained burn injuries.
After the Mumbai Fire Brigade was alerted about the fire, firefighters rushed to the spot with five fire engines and two jumbo water tankers. Firefighters faced difficulties as thick smoke had filled the corridor and stairwell, particularly because the flat was on the top floor, officials said. The blaze was brought under control by around 1.44 pm.
Both women were taken to Nanavati Hospital, where Bhavana Satra was declared dead on arrival. A relative of the bride said the family was considering postponing the wedding in view of the tragedy.
With inputs from agencies