1 woman dead, another injured in fire at Vile Parle high-rise apartment in Mumbai

A 63-year-old woman was killed, and a 34-year-old woman was injured in a fire that broke out in a residential building at Vile Parle East in Mumbai’s western suburbs Monday afternoon.

The blaze erupted from the 13th floor of the Suvidha Pearl building at Pheroze Shah Mehta Road around 12.44 pm, according to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) disaster cell. Fire officials said the blaze began in an electrical wiring duct inside a room and soon spread to other rooms in the apartment.

The deceased was identified as Bhavna Satra, who was in the apartment during the incident, along with the injured woman, Aneree. Officials from the Mumbai Fire Brigade (MFB) said that the victims inhaled smoke, which caused breathing difficulties and ultimately led to the death of one of them.

The MFB deployed five fire engines and two jumbo tankers into the rescue operation, and the blaze was extinguished around 1.44 pm. (Express Photo by Sankhadeep Banerjee)

The victims were rushed to the Nanavati Hospital, where one of them was declared dead, while the other was undergoing treatment.

The MFB deployed five fire engines and two jumbo tankers into the rescue operation, and the blaze was extinguished around 1.44 pm.

“The apartment was located on the top floor of the building, so it was challenging to carry out the firefighting operation since the entire corridor and staircases were engulfed with smoke. The victims inhaled the smoke, and by the time they were brought out, both were senseless,” an MFB official said.

Fire officials said that once the cooling operation is complete, an investigation will be launched to determine the cause of the fire.