Five dead after major fire breaks out in Mumbai building, blaze fighting operation underway

Five senior citizens, including two women, were dead and several others injured after a major fire broke out in a residential high-rise building located at Tilak Nagar in northeast Mumbai's Chembur on Thursday evening, according to civic officials. The incident occurred at about 7.50 pm on the 11th floor of Sargam Society and soon spread to the tenth floor. While most residents escaped unhurt, a few of them were trapped on the 13th and 14th floors of the residential highrise. The reason behind the fire is yet to be ascertained.

The search and rescue operation is currently underway in the 16-storey building in Tilak Nagar, according to the Disaster Management Unit of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

"5 dead and 2 people injured including a fireman in the fire that broke out on the 14th floor of Sargam Society in Chembur, Mumbai. Firefighting operation still underway," the news agency ANI reported.

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Maharashtra: Visuals of rescue operation from Sargam Society in Chembur, Mumbai where a fire broke out today. Firefighting operation still underway. pic.twitter.com/A5aWTVAgVA

— ANI (@ANI) December 27, 2018

The fire brigade team rescued victims from the highrise building and admitted them to the nearby Rajawadi Hospital, where five people, including two women, were declared dead by the hospital authorities, the official said. The fire has been brought under control, but the reason behind the incident will be known only after an investigation, the official added. 

This is the fourth major fire incident that took place in Mumbai in the last four days. On December 20, a major fire broke out at the luxury hotel Trident in south Mumbai's posh Nariman Point locality. However, no casualty had been reported in the incident.

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On December 17, a deadly blaze broke out at ESIC Kamgar Hospital in Andheri, leaving 11 people dead and 175 others injured. Over 170 people, mostly patients and visitors, were rescued in the tragedy and undergoing treatment at various hospitals across Mumbai.

The year 2018 continues to prove disastrous for Mumbai when it comes to combating fire incidents. There have been over 49,000 incidents of fire in Mumbai in the last one decade, which claimed over 600 lives and injured several others, according to a statement released by the Maharashtra government.