The fire alarm did not go off: Resident

Since the fire alarm did not go off, residents alerted the neighbours soon after the fire broke out. Information about the incident was shared on the residents’ WhatsApp group.

Suresh Jain was in his 52nd floor flat in the B-Wing, along with his wife and son at the time. He said, “We immediately alerted the neighbours about the incident – one of them, a 70-year-old woman, while another was a man in a wheelchair.”

Suresh’s son Nehul and the family’s house help lifted the wheelchair-bound neighbour and climbed down from the 52nd floor to the 48th floor. They used the refuge area on the 48th floor to move to the A-Wing, where they used to lift to come down.

“Since the building’s fire fighting equipment were functional, no one was injured. A temple in the area also offered free food for all the residents who were stranded,” added Jain.

A resident of the 21st floor of the building said, “I live just below the flat that caught fire. A strong smell of combustion drifted into the flat and I saw a lot of smoke. I immediately gathered my family members, alerted the neighbours and came down. My daughter has a heart condition.” She then checked if her house help was in the building and asked her to come down.

Many house staff were seen outside the building after they were evacuated. One of them said, “As soon as we were alerted about the fire, we climbed down to the refuge area and went into the A-Wing. We came down from there. It is surprising that despite routine checks by the building’s administration, the fire alarm did not go off.”