JOIN USNine members of a family, including five children, were killed after fire broke out at a pharmacy in the congested Juhu galli chawl of Andheri neighbourhood here on Thursday.
This is one of the worst-ever fire related tragedies in recent times in the entire Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR).
The fire started at around 6 am at Wafa Medical Store, located on the ground floor of the building. The first and second floors housed families. The shop located in Nigam Mistry chawl at Wireless Road in Juhu in Andheri-West is owned by Imtiaz (40).
The deceased were identified as Saburiya Mozin Khan (65), Siddik Khan (35), Rabil Khan (28), Sabiya Khan (28), Mozhel Khan (8), Unnihay Khan (5), Aliza Khan (4), Tubba Khan (8) and Altaz Khan (3 months).
Besides, a fireman, Avinash Shirgaonkar, who went for firefighting and rescue operations sustained a cut. He was treated and discharged.
The Mumbai Fire Brigade (MFB) received the call around 6.18 am and the first team reached the spot at 6.37 am. The fire was brought under control at 7.15 am. Three fire tenders, one jumbo tanker and two ambulances were rushed to the spot. According to the police and fire brigade officials, the electric wiring and other power installations in the 120 sqft medical store caught fire. The blaze then spread to other floors of the chawl in which at least 17 people were staying.
Due to a very small internal staircase in the chawl, the victims were trapped inside, sustained burn injures and were suffocated to death. A gas cylinder too exploded, compounding the problem.