A WEEK after a major fire broke out in a seven-storey residential building, Jai Bhavani, in Mumbai’s Goregaon West, another victim who had been receiving treatment at Kokilaben hospital succumbed to his injuries on Sunday evening. The victim has been identified as Sunil Dhembre (48). With Dhembre's demise, the death toll in the incident on October 6 has shot up to eight. As per the reports of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), Dhembre had incurred superficial burns as well as injuries owing to smoke inhalation. “After being admitted at the HBT hospital, Sunil Dhembre was transferred to Cooper hospital on October 7. Later, he took DAMA on October 11 and on the same day, he admitted himself at Kokilaben Hospital. On October 15, the medical in charge at the Kokilaben hospital declared him dead at 7.20 pm," reads a BMC bulletin. Speaking to The Indian Express, Dhembre's next door neighbour at the SRA building, Murlidhar Malla said that Dhembre had already lost his daughter, Prerna, in the aftermath of the blaze. “We lived in 307 while the Dhembres lived in 306. He lost his daughter last week and today we heard that Sunil too succumbed to his injuries. He used to run a shoe shop inside the 'Guruvar Bazar' near Goregaon station.” With the BMC having barred entry for the residents of the building amid ongoing restoration work for electricity and water, the civic body had made provisions for the accommodation of the residents at the nearby BMC-run school at Unnat Nagar. While only three families having availed the civic body's accommodation facility at the school on the first night following the mishap, more residents have now sought refuge at the school thereafter. Mallar, whose family is among the first to have arrived at the school said, “After more people started getting discharged, they have now started arriving at the school. We are facing some issues while residing here but I have no choice as there are nine members in my family and no other relatives in the city. I have tried looking for rental places but the costs are too expensive.” Meanwhile, several other victims have opted to stay with their relatives. Currently, the SRA, BMC are carrying out repair work as well as audits to evaluate the cause of the fire. As per the civic body's initial reports, while the cause remain unknown, the flames had fanned because of the scrap clothes which had been stored in the stilt area of the building.
