Fires rage across city, five killed, seven hurt

The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained.

The flames leapt a few meters high, aided by the wind, as the crew of nine fire engines were battling to bring the blaze under control. Five water tankers were pressed into service to assist in cooling operations, which extended till late in the evening.

Naresh Talajia (25), Mohd Quereshi (25), Ramgopal Kanodia (25) succumbed to injuries while the injured Bashiullah Quereshi (30), S Sher Ali (18) and Bhola (30) were taken to Bhagwati Hospital, where doctors said their condition was stable.

Fire Brigrade officials told The Indian Express fire-fighting prevented the blaze from spreading to theother floors of the shopping centre. In an another incident, a nine-year-old girl and a woman died of severe burn injuries at Dharavi on Saturday morning. The two victims were at their ground floor residence at 136, Karve Nagar when the fire broke out at around 10.30 am.

The victims, identified as Deepa Kolar (9) and Bhimva Parshuram Vaid (30), were taken to the LTMG Hospital at Sion, where they succumbed to 100 per cent burns. Preliminary investigations have revealed that short circuit led to the fire.

In yet another incident, four persons were injured and five hutments caught fire when a driver tried to repair his autorickshaw at Kandivali early Saturday morning.

The incident took place near Gautam Nagar Zopadpatti when autorickshaw driver Surendra Bahadur Singh was repairing his vehicle. The driver lit a matchstick to take a look at the spark plug when the petrol in the tank caught fire.

The fire soon engulfed the autorickshaw and spread to the adjoining hutments. The dwellers were caught unawaresas most of them were fast asleep. The Kandivali police have arrested the autorickshaw driver.The injured, identified as Laxmi Kadimal, Takshila Kadimal, Amjad Sheikh and Tilak Kadimal, are undergoing treatment at Bhagwati Hospital, said police sources.