4 of a family, including 6-year-old girl, killed in fire out in Navi Mumbai highrise

While the deceased minor was identified as Vedika Balakrishnan, the others who died are her parents Sundar Balakrishnan, 44, and Pooja Rajan, 39, and her grandmother Kamla Jain, 84. They lived on the 10th and 12th floors of the building.

Officials identified the injured as Manabendra Ghosh, 69, Mallika Ghosh, 58, Ritika Ghosh, 39, Bhavana Jain, 49, Krish Jain, 21, Mahavir Jain, 51, Nirmal Jain, 53, Mehul Jain, 32, Damayanti Agarwal, 80, and Sumanti John Topno, 18. They have sustained serious smoke inhalation injuries and were taken to the nearby Fortis and Hiranandani hospitals. They are currently under observation. After preliminary treatment and observation, the patients later shifted to other hospitals.

“Vedika and her parents Sundar and Pooja were on the 10th floor when the blaze erupted and her grandmother was on the 12th floor. The four succumbed after inhaling smoke,” said an official.

“From the 12th floor down to the ninth, the smoke got everywhere,” said a B-Block security guard at the site. “The carbon dust has settled across the halls and flats. We have asked everyone to leave for now, doors are open, belongings left behind, it’s not safe to go in yet.”

A NMFB official said preliminary probe indicated an air-conditioner, which appeared to have been running for a very long time on the 10th floor, is thought to have triggered a short-circuit. “Later, the flames spread to the other floors through the air-conditioning duct and wiring installations,” the official added.

While the blaze was extinguished by around 4 am, it took over six hours to complete cooling operations in the building. Officials said that in the next two days, a site visit will be carried out to investigate whether firefighting systems like sprinklers and extinguishers were operational in the building.

Safety measures adopted

Following the fire, residents of B Block have been instructed to vacate the building and move to a temporary accommodation until it is deemed safe for occupation. The premises, covered in carbon dust and water across several floors, is unsafe to live now. Water and electricity connections have been disconnected as a safety measure and residents will be permitted to return only after the building is thoroughly cleaned and restored by the government authorities.

Five patients came to Fortis hospital, and they just took the basic treatment in terms of dressing etc, and they shifted to different hospitals, one they have said to be in Apollo hospital Belapur. So basically whoever got admitted they’ve left to other hospitals in the morning.

They are not giving the details of the injury, because the doctors and staff who treated them are not present at the moment

All the patients who were admitted initially to fortis hospital, all have taken LAMA (Left Against Medical Advice).