40 rescued from Mumbai housing complex fire; filmmaker Sandeep Singh's premises affected

Mumbai, Dec 25 (PTI) Nearly 40 persons were rescued after a fire broke out at a 23-storey residential building in Mumbai’s Andheri West area on Thursday morning, officials said.

Nobody was injured in the fire that started around 10 am at Sorrento Tower near Country Club on Veera Desai Road, they said.

A civic official said 30-40 persons were rescued from the 16th-floor refuge area through the staircase, while three others, including a woman, were moved to safety from a flat on the 15th floor using breathing apparatus.

The fire affected the wiring and other components in the electrical shaft between the 10th and 21st floors, routers, shoe racks and wooden furniture near the duct on various floors, he said. It gutted the 12th, 13th and 14th floors, he added.

The 14th floor houses the premises of filmmaker Sandeep Singh, known for films such as Mary Kom, Sarbjit, Aligarh, Jhund, Savarkar, Safed and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, among others.

Singh had been discharged from Kokilaben Hospital earlier after undergoing hernia treatment. Actor Ankita Lokhande and her husband Vicky Jain immediately took him to their residence as a precautionary measure.

The fire brigade deployed at least four fire engines and other equipment and put out the fire at 11.37 am, the official said.

The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained, he added. PTI KK KKP NR BNM