Mumbai: At least 14 persons, including a child and some senior citizens, sustained burn injuries when they rushed out of their flats in panic after a fire erupted in the metre cabin of an eight-storey building in Malad on Tuesday, an official said.
The blaze broke out in the cabin situated under the staircase at the entrance of Girnar Galaxy building in Sundar Nagar around 9.48 am, the official said.
Though the blaze was put out in less than 10 minutes, 14 persons sustained injuries when they tried to leave the premises, he said. "People sustained burns as they tried to leave the building when they found out about the fire. There wouldn't have been any injuries if they had waited inside their homes for the fire brigade to evacuate them safely," Chief Fire Officer Ravindra Ambulgekar said. The injured persons included five senior citizens and a child, another official said.
A short circuit could have triggered the fire, the official said. "As per Mumbai Fire Brigade, the fire started from an electric cable in the metre cabin due to a short circuit as a result of which the entire passage of the building was filled with thick smoke," a Mumbai civic official said.
He said many residents fell unconscious due to the inhalation of smoke when they opened doors to check what was happening. A senior citizen who tried to douse the fire sustained serious burn injuries, he said.
Another civic official said the three persons, who were admitted to the civic-run Shatabdi Hospital in Kandivali were discharged against the medical advice.
They included an 80-year-old man, who sustained 50-60 per cent burn injuries, and a 66-year-old woman with 10-15 per cent burns. "Another 11 people were initially admitted at Malad-based Thunga Hospital. Of them two patients were shifted to the National Burns Centre (NBC) at Airoli, while six others were discharged and the rest three are undergoing treatment in the Malad hospital," he added.
The 11 patients included two women aged 69 and 73 years and a 73-year-old man. Two of them have been shifted to NBC in Airoli and the third one is undergoing treatment at Thunga Hospital. The official said that six persons have been discharged from the private hospital including a seven-year-old child.
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