A birthday bash at a pub in a central Mumbai building ended in a tragedy as 14 people, including 11 women, were killed after a fire broke out shortly after midnight, an official said today. Most of the victims died of suffocation. Twenty-one people were injured in the fire, which broke out at the hotel terrace on the third floor of the commercial complex at Lower Parel area, the official said.

"Most of the victims, who included 11 women, died of asphyxiation," said Avinash Supe, Dean of the KEM hospital where the injured and dead were brought.

“The incident occurred after 12:30 AM at One Above pub, located on the third floor of the Trade House Building in Kamala Mills compound on Senapati Bapat Marg, a commercial hub of the city,” a police official said. The massive blaze engulfed the entire building in about 30 minutes and took several hours to be put out. The fire started in the '1 Above' pub on the terrace, and spread to 'Mojo' pub on the third floor one level below, said an official of the Mumbai civic body, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. Eyewitnesses, which included several journalists working in media organisations having their offices in the same compound, said the fire spread fast and had also affected two adjoining diner-cum-pubs.

The cause of the fire is not known.

Teams of fire brigade and police rushed to the spot and a rescue operation was launched to pull out the people trapped inside the pub, the official added. “The fire brigade rescued at least 35 injured persons, who were trapped inside the hotel. They were shifted to a hospital,” he said. “During treatment, 14 people, including 11 women, were declared dead. Most of the victims died of suffocation,” he said adding that 21 others sustained serious burn injuries.

Mumbai’s civic body Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation credited the Press Trust of India for alerting authorities about the blaze. “The disaster management control room was alerted by PTI about the fire,” said a report issued by the BMC disaster management cell today.

Police have booked Hratesh Sanghvi, Jigar Sanghvi and Abhijeet Manka of C Grade Hospitality, which manages the pub, along with others, under IPC sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) and 338 (causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others). "They have been booked by N M Joshi Marg Police Station and two of them have been detained," the official said.

The Kamala Mills compound in central Mumbai’s Lower Parel is a refurbished industrial compound, housing swanky restaurants and other commercial establishments. Several media outlets, including TV news channels Times Now, ET Now and TV9 Marathi, have offices in the complex. According to the official, the cause of the fire remains to be ascertained.

There have been allegations that civic authorities have turned a blind eye to construction irregularities and violation of fire safety norms in the compound.

Anguish, grief

President Ram Nath Kovind offered his condolences to the vitims of the fire accident. He also praised the fire-fighters for their "valiant effort" in rescue operation. "Disturbing news about the fire in Mumbai. Condolences to the bereaved families and wishing the injured an early recovery. Commend the valiant efforts of fire-fighters and those in rescue ops," he tweeted.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today expressed anguish over the fire incident in a Mumbai building which led to the loss of several lives. “Anguished by the fire in Mumbai. My thoughts are with the bereaved families in this hour of grief. I pray that those injured recover quickly,” the Prime Minister’s Office tweeted.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis orderd a probe over the incident. He expressed his grief over the loss of lives. “Disturbing to know about the loss of lives in unfortunate Kamala Mills fire incident in Mumbai. My thoughts are with the families who lost their loved ones and prayers for the speedy recovery of the injured. Directed the BMC Commissioner to conduct an in-depth enquiry,” Fadnavis said in a tweet.

In another tweet, the chief minister said that he has directed Brihanmumbai Municipal Commissioner (Ajoy Mehta) “to take strong action against erring officials immediately“.

BJP MP Kirit Somaiya tweeted, “Fire at Pub at Kamala Mill Compound Mumbai I had urged CM & BMC Commissioner to Order Special Fire Audit of all such Pub, Hooka Parlours & Farsan Mart/Workshops of Mumbai. 2 week back similar type of fire at Farsan Workshop Sakinaka 1 dozen people had died.” “Understood that several such establishments at Kamla mills compound are illegal, part of which was regularised lately, the place where fire took place was illegal,” he added.

(With inputs from The Hindu)

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