Short-circuit fire in Masjid Bunder building kills 2, injures five

MUMBAI: Two people lost their lives in a fire at a building in Masjid Bunder on Sunday morning and five others were injured. The incident took place at Pann Ali Mansion at 6.11 am, a nine-storey high-rise near Ram Mandir in Vadgari.

The fire started in a meter room on the ground floor, prima facie from a short circuit but the already crowded terrace forced two women—Sabiya Alam Shaikh (30) and Sabila Khatun Shaikh (42)—to take the stairs to escape. Suffocated by the heavy smoke, they fell unconscious, and were declared dead later in hospital.

Along with these two, five others were admitted to hospital. Shah Jiya Shaikh (21), Shahin Alam Shaikh (22), Nakis Surti (24), Sauda Alam Shaikh (48), were taken to JJ Hospital, while Karim Shaikh (20) is stable and recovering at GT Hospital. Three of the injured remain hospitalised while two have been discharged.

Santosh Sawant, deputy chief fire officer, told HT that the fire originated in the meter room on the ground floor, which also housed two shops. The floors up to the third were used for commercial storage, while those from the fourth to the ninth were residential. Sawant explained that the electric meter box had a short circuit, which caused smoke to accumulate in the open staircase. The smoke then spread through the lift and staircase shafts after the cables caught fire.

However, it wasn’t the fire that caused the damage, but the smoke, which spread upwards, leading to suffocation. Sawant shared that the two deceased individuals had placed their father in a safe location inside their flat, but attempted to descend due to the crowd on the terrace. “As they tried to descend, the smoke overwhelmed them, and they suffocated,” he said. “They lost consciousness on the first floor. There was also a man who managed to run downstairs and was taken to GT Hospital. In total, we rescued seven injured victims, two of whom were declared dead.”

Tenants, clearly shaken by the incident and left without electricity, were reluctant to speak with the media. One tenant shared that the building housed 45 families, with the number of flats and their size differing on each floor. A local resident from the neighbourhood recalled that before the building was constructed, the site was home to a scrap godown that was gutted in a fire, ultimately leading to the construction of the current building.

A fire official added that the building, constructed using an I-beam, was a death trap, especially in the densely packed B Ward, with a notorious reputation for its illegal cheek-by-jowl buildings.The fire brigade extinguished the blaze at 6.31 am.