Fire breaks out in Mumbai telephone exchange building; 84 rescued

Shiv Kumar
Tribune News Service
Mumbai, July 22

At least a hundred people, including employees and members of the public, were trapped after a major blaze broke out at the Mahanagar Telephone Nigam LTD (MTNL) telephone exchange building in Mumbai’s Bandra West this afternoon, police and fire officials said.

Officials said 84 people have been rescued so far. A fireman has been admitted to a hospital after inhaling smoke. 

According to the fire brigade, the first call was received at 3:10 pm on Monday. The level one fire was upgraded to levels two, three and four after firemen found the blaze spread to various parts of the building.

“The fire was first noticed in the third and fourth floor of the 10-storeyed building,” Mumbai Fire Chief P Rahangdale told reporters here. He added that people from the upper floors rushed to the terrace of the building from where they were being rescued by cranes deployed by the department. People were still trapped in the upper floors of the smoke-filled building, Rahangdale added.

Fire officials said 15 fire engines and several tankers were rushed to douse the blaze. It is not clear if there are any casualties yet.

”We are still fighting the blaze and our firemen will enter the building after cooling operations are completed,” Rahangdale said

MTNL employees who were rescued by the fire brigade told reporters that the fire spread quickly and they had to rush out to save themselves.

They said the fire may been caused by a short-circuit.