Fire breaks out in Lokhandwala highrise, 3 dead

The victims have been identified as Chandraprakash Soni (74), his wife Kanta Soni (74) – who have been residing at Riya Palace since the early 2000s – and their house help of over 20 years, Ravi (Pelubeta) (42). Chandraprakash Soni, who lost his vision a few years back, was an active businessman running a shipping management business, while his wife was a homemaker. Hailing from Bihar, meanwhile, Ravi is survived by his two children and wife.

According to officials from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), no other injuries were reported as the fire had remained confined to the Sonis’ residence on the tenth floor.

The first whiff of the blaze to alert some residents came around 7.15 am, when they were on their morning stroll and noticed smoke emanating from the windows of the Sonis’ home. “After noticing the smoke, my son alerted me about the situation. Soon, we started making attempts to rescue the family. We tried to call them too but the calls remained unanswered,” recounted Krishan Arora, a family friend of the Sonis and building secretary of Riya Palace.

After multiple attempts, residents managed to open the burning flat’s door using keys which the Sonis had entrusted their next door neighbour with.

“When we did manage to open the door, there was so much smoke that we couldn’t even see a foot’s distance away. Soon, the fire brigade reached the spot and rescued the family,” added Arora.

However, by then, the Sonis had suffered grievous burn injuries while Ravi had inhaled a lot of smoke. Eyewitnesses shared that while Chandraprakash was recovered from the bedroom, his wife was rescued from the house passageway and Ravi was found in the living room.

Following rescue, the victims were taken to the civic-run Cooper Hospital where the medical officials declared them ‘brought dead’.

The Sonis are survived by their two sons, who are settled in Singapore and Washington each. Following the fire, they were informed of their parents’ demise and are now heading back to India.

Meanwhile, residents said that they were still attempting to connect with Ravi’s family, who live in their native village in Bihar.

Arora shared, “Despite his loss of vision, Mr. Soni was more active than any of us. He would work out of his office in the nearby building and was also a managing member on the society committee. I met him last evening and spoke to him at length to discuss some building related work. His wife too was a good friend and they had recently organised a function during Navratri, which all of us attended. Even their house help was like a family member to them as he had been working with them for nearly 15 – 20 years.”

A senior official from Mumbai Fire Brigade (MFB) maintained that the exact cause of the blaze is yet to be ascertained. “The residents had managed to break the door even before we could reach the spot. The police are now investigating and recording their statements.”

Concerns over lack of fire brigade

Wednesday’s fatal fire has drawn light to the long-drawn demands for the establishment of a fire brigade for the locality which encompasses Versova, Oshiwara, 7 bungalows and Lokhandwala. The glaring absence comes despite the fact that the nearby plot at Chitrakoot Ground has been reserved for a fire brigade for the past 35 years.

Currently, for residents of the area, the nearest fire brigade lies in Goregaon, followed by the fire station at Irla in Vile Parle.

“Despite having a high population of over 5 lakh, there is no fire brigade in the locality, which puts the lives of residents in jeopardy in case of major fire. We don’t understand why this has been stalled for so many years despite the reservation nod,” said Dhaval Shah from Lokhandwala Oshiwara Citizen’s Association (LOCA). Last month, LOCA had written to the civic chief, Bhushan Gagrani, demanding the establishment of the fire station at the earliest.