Butcher Island fire continues

A major fire that broke out at a large fuel tank at Butcher Island, nearly 5.3 nautical miles off the Gateway of India, across the Mumbai harbour, continued to rage on on Saturday.

The blaze started around 5pm on Friday.

People from the eastern seafront of Mumbai and some areas of neighbouring Thane and Raigad district could see fire and smoke billowing out from Butcher Island, which is of strategic importance.

Teams of the Mumbai Port Trust and Mumbai Fire Brigade are continuing with the fire fighting operation, which is expected to continue till Sunday.

The Disaster Management Unit of the Maharashtra government is monitoring the operations.