She ran to save the child she cared for. Both died as fire engulfed Mumbai flat

Ketan Parikh, the building’s secretary, said Chetri was from Siliguri, West Bengal and that a relative had come to the building to identify her. Her family had subsequently been informed of her death and was on its way to collect her body, and would reach by Thursday morning. The 23-year-old had been working with the family for less than a year.

Abir’s parents, Siddharth and Jaini, stayed at home.

“He was the youngest child of his parents. His father and mother are not in a condition to talk. They are at home, unconscious and in shock, so we have come to take care of the postmortem formalities,” the relative said.

The tragedy unfolded around 10 pm at the four-basement, ground-plus-11-storey Shanta Bhuvan building on Baptista Road, a residential project completed in 2020 by the Batavia family’s real estate company, Labh Homes Creations and Holdings. Hiren Batavia, 64, the company’s managing director, lived in the flat with his joint family.

The fire started in the hall at around 9.45 pm, according to preliminary findings of the fire brigade. Officials suspect an electrical fault involving the AC unit above the television or the iron being used by Chetri could have triggered the blaze.

As the fire spread, Hiren tried to reach the bedroom where Abir and Chetri were trapped but could not get through because of the heat and smoke. A fire brigade officer said the pair could possibly have survived had the bedroom window been opened.

In the adjoining bedroom, Hiren’s son Parth, 32, was initially unaware of the fire. When he opened his door, he was hit by a wall of smoke. He tried blocking the smoke with towels before going out onto the balcony. Firefighters rescued Parth and took him to Nanavati Hospital.

As smoke filled the building, several residents fled to the terrace. The building’s secretary and others tried to assist in the firefighting operation, while watchman Shivam Dwivedi, 29, and fire brigade official Manoj Sonawane, 31, suffered minor injuries during the rescue operation.

The evacuation was particularly difficult because several residents were senior citizens. Firefighters helped some of them descend the staircase, including a resident who had to be brought down in a wheelchair.

The building’s compound also posed a challenge to the rescue operation. There was insufficient space for a fire brigade vehicle to reach the building directly, forcing firefighters to carry out rescues through the staircase.

The building had a firefighting system, with provisions for sprinklers and fire extinguishers, but few residents knew how to operate the pump.

“Two people in the building knew how to work the pump, and they were on the top floor, so it went unused. This is pretty typical; the families in the neighbourhood should take this as a lesson and familiarise themselves with their firefighting systems,” said Vipin Sharma, additional municipal commissioner of the BMC.