14 Dead In Mumbai Rooftop Fire, Warnings About Building Ignored: 10 Facts

Mumbai:  Fourteen people including 11 women, most of them in their 20s and early 30s, were killed and several injured in a massive fire that started from a restaurant in Mumbai's Kamala Mills compound late on Thursday night, and spread rapidly to nearby restaurants and offices as well. Fire fighters took more than three hours to douse the flames that leapt up in central Mumbai's nightlife hub. The doctors have said that the victims died of suffocation. Five Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) officials have been suspended and a case has been registered against the owners of the restaurant "1 Above" where the fire broke out. Two of them have been detained.

Here are the top 10 updates on Mumbai's Kamala Mills fire:

1. The fire is suspected to have started a little after 12.30 am and spread quickly. Witnesses said the entire building was engulfed in flames in less than half-an-hour. Fire engines and police teams rushed to the complex and began efforts to rescue those stuck inside the pub.


2. An activist of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) had reportedly complained in October to the civic body BMC about illegal structures that could cause a disaster, but he was told there was "nothing illegal". Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has now ordered an investigation and action against officials.


3. A majority of those killed were women who had come for a birthday party at the rooftop restaurant, police said. The 28-year-old woman celebrating her birthday was among the victims. There have been allegations that civic authorities ignored construction irregularities and violated safety norms in the compound.


4. The fire is believed to have spread further as the roof of the restaurant was made of bamboo and tarpaulin sheets. "Almost all (the victims) died of asphyxiation. A proper evacuation plan could have avoided this," Dr Harish Pathak, forensic department head, KEM Hospital was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.


5. Dr Sulbha KG Arora, a Mumbai doctor, said she was at the restaurant when the fire broke out. "There was no time for anyone to reach out because the fire spread so rapidly. The staff of the restaurant were trying to help the customers as much as possible," the eyewitness and survivor told NDTV on phone. "People were running over me even as the ceiling above me was collapsing in flames," she tweeted and described the incident as the "scariest thing I have ever survived".


6. On Twitter, President Ram Nath Kovind condoled the Kamala Mills fire deaths. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also tweeted, "Anguished by the fire in Mumbai. My thoughts are with the bereaved families in this hour of grief. I pray that those injured recover quickly."


7. Actor and Rajya Sabha lawmaker Jaya Bachchan said, "I have been to Kamala Mills, it is like a bhool bhulaiaya, has narrow lanes. So obviously there has been negligence."


8. S Jay Kumar, a senior Mumbai police officer said he could not speak on the cause of fire. "We have started our investigation... It is only after investigation that we will be able to say anything," he said.


9. Shiv Sena lawmaker Sunil Shinde who also reached the hospital demanded a "proper inquiry". "Who has given them (restaurants) the licence? They are responsible for this incident," he told reporters. Another Sena leader Aditya Thackeray, tweeted, "Implementing fire audits of such places are a must, and action will be taken if violations are found."


10. Several news channels which operate from the compound had to shut down broadcast due to damage to their equipment. Once an industrial area in central Mumbai's Lower Parel locality, the 37-acre premises houses a host of swanky restaurants that had moved in over the last few years to make it a popular nightlife destination.

Source: NDTV.com