Mumbai: Two men were killed in a fire that broke out in a hardware shop at Sakinaka in Mumbai in the wee hours on Monday, officials said. The blaze broke out at around 2 AM in the shop located near the Sakinaka metro station.
Initially, it was feared that some persons got trapped inside the shop, the official said, adding that teams of Fire Brigade and police rushed to the spot and launched a search and rescue operation. "During the search, fire officials found a 22-year-old man with serious burn injuries. He was rushed to a hospital where he was declared brought dead," he said.
Another man, aged 23, who has been missing, was also found inside the shop by Fire Brigade personnel. He was taken to a civic-run hospital in suburban Ghatkopar where he was declared brought dead, the official said. The fire was doused after more than 8 hours at around 10:45 AM, he added.
The incident, which occurred while everyone was asleep, triggered panic in the area. It took the firefighters around half an hour to bring the fire under control. After extinguishing the flames initially, the fire broke out again. It was finally brought under control at around 5 am. Police and Mumbai Fire Brigade are investigating the cause of the fire.
The blaze was confined to the shop, which has two lofts, and gutted electric wiring, electric installations, and other materials, the official said.
He said the loft inside the shop has collapsed posing difficulty to enter the structure following which the front portion of the structure was removed with the help of an excavator
All the goods stored in the hardware store, occupying a space measuring 40 by 50 square feet, have been gutted. The shop has a basement plus one floor. In order to bring the fire under control, the front portion of the shop was demolished. Firefighters entered the shop and pulled out one person who was severely burnt. He was sent to Rajawadi Hospital where doctors declared him dead. The first deceased has been identified as Rakesh Gupta.
