Female firefighter among 4 injured in blaze in south Mumbai high-rise

Mumbai, Nov 27 (PTI) Four persons -- a female firefighter and three residents -- sustained injuries in a blaze that broke out in a 22-storey building in south Mumbai on Wednesday afternoon, civic officials said.

Multiple blasts were heard from the residential building, "Ansari Heights", in the Dongri area during the firefighting operation.

A Fire Brigade official said the exact cause of the fire was under investigation, but a gas cylinder blast in a flat on the 14th floor could have triggered the blaze, which soon spread to lower and upper levels of the building.

A civic official said 27 residents were stranded on the terrace of the building, where the fire was reported at around 1.10 pm, after they did not find way to escape as the entire staircase was smoke-logged. After the blaze was extinguished at around 5 pm, they were rescued from the terrace.

A civic official said firewoman Anjali Amol Jamdade (35), attached with the Mumbai Fire Brigade's Mandavi station, sustained injury on her right shoulder while dousing the flames.

Three women residents of the building, Nasir Muni Ansari (49), Samin Nasir Ansari (44) and Sana Ansari (32), were also injured in the blaze. Firefighter Jamdade and Nasir Ansari, who suffered 15 per cent burn injuries, were admitted to Maharashtra government-run JJ Hospital in Byculla, where their condition was listed as stable, he said.

Samin Ansari, who sustained 22 per cent burns, was admitted to the Byculla-based Masina Hospital, while Sana Ansari, who suffered minor injuries, was discharged from the nearby Noor Hospital after treatment, said the official.

Nine fire engines, 12 tankers and one turntable ladder were deployed to douse the flames, he said.

Residents complained that due to illegal parking on an approach road to the building, the Fire Brigade found it tough to bring their vehicles and equipment to the spot.

Earlier in the morning, a fire broke out in a seven-storey residential building in Mumbai's suburb of Andheri (West), officials said.

The blaze erupted at 8.42 am in a flat on the sixth floor of the 'Chinchan' building and was doused by around 9 am, they said, adding no one was injured in the fire, whose cause was not yet known. PTI KK NR GK RSY