Two killed in fire at commercial complex in Andheri

In a bid to douse the blaze, MFB pressed its fire men while officials from Mumbai Police, staffers from the civic body were also roped in to overlook the rescue operations.

Two people were killed after a fire broke out and spread inside an office of an electrical machinery manufacturing company at a commercial complex in Andheri East on Wednesday evening.

The incident was reported at 6.36 pm at the Tex center situated along the Sakivihar road in Chandivali area of Andheri East. The blaze was declared level one at 6.54 pm.

According to officials, the fire broke out inside unit number 303 on the third floor which served as an office of city-based company, M/S Neocell industries. Soon, the fire spread through lithium-ion batteries manufactured by the company, electrical installation, wiring, office files, furniture like doors, false ceiling amongst other office installations on the third floor of the ground plus four storeyed commercial complex. Officials said that even as the blaze was confined to the third floor, smoke billowed through the entire building.

During the course of fire fighting, Mumbai Fire Brigade personnel found two men lying conscious inside the office where the fire broke out. The two were taken to Seven Hills hospital and Rajawadi hospital respectively, where they were both declared dead.

The deceased have been identified as Bhagvan Pitale (40) and Sumant Jadhav (28).

Speaking to The Indian Express, a senior official from Mumbai Fire Brigade said, “The two men were rescued from inside the 303 unit where the Neocell industries operated from. While it is likely that they were staffers of the office, we are yet to ascertain the details. Our first priority is to rescue the trapped and extinguish the fire.” “Since batteries with lithium-ion components were present, the fire tends to spread multifolds very quickly. There was also intensive smoke logging, which is amongst the biggest causes for casualties,” the official added.

After hours of cooling, the MFB extinguished the blaze at 9.20 pm.