At least seven persons, including five women, were killed and another 51 injured in a major fire that engulfed the parking lot of a high-rise in suburban Goregaon, here early on Friday, the BMC Disaster Control said.
The fire, which broke out at around 3 a.m. in the 2000-sq. feet parking lot of Jay Bhavani Building on MG Road, caught at least four cars and 30 two-wheelers and spread to the electrical meter box, staircase, and then the flames reached the residential floors above, jolting the people awake from sleep.
The Mumbai Police, Mumbai Fire Brigade and other agencies rushed to the spot and managed to deploy ladders to rescue 30 residents from the ground+7-storey building with shops and establishments partly occupying the ground floor.
The death toll has now risen to seven, comprising five females, two minors, and two males, plus 51 more injured, including 22 females.
While 35 still continue under treatment, the condition of five is described as critical and the rest have been discharged.
A majority of the victims were rushed in ambulances to the HBT Hospital and the Cooper Hospital and other nearby hospitals.
After massive efforts by the fire-fighters, the blaze was extinguished around 6.55 a.m., said the BMC Disaster Control, and the cause of the conflagration was being probed.
(With inputs from IANS)
