Mumbai: A one-and-a-half-year-old girl died and her four-year-old sister sustained burn injuries after a fire broke out in a pump house on the ground floor of a residential building Shoeb Manzil in Kantwadi, Bandra (west) on Monday afternoon.
Shankar Bahadur Dhanu, the father of the deceased, who is the watchman of the building, and his wife were not at home when the fire broke out.
The cause of the fire has not been ascertained yet. The fire brigade arrived at the spot at around 12.30 pm and doused the blaze in an hour.
Fire brigade officials said they rescued the two children. However, Didi Bhanu was declared dead on arrival at Bandra’s Holy Family Hospital.
Locals said the fire started from the pump room of the building. Uma, who was injured in the incident, has been admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and is currently receiving treatment.
According to locals, two children were sleeping inside the pump house when the incident took place. The fire erupted in the pump house of a two-storey residential building in Perry Cross Road.
Chief fire officer Prabhat Rahangdale, said, “Fire was confined to electric wiring, electric installation, clothes, wooden window frame and household. The blaze was doused within an hour.” “The room which is about 8X15 sq.ft was erected in the pump house for residential use,” he added.
A doctor said, “The one-and-half-year-old minor was brought dead. She might have died due to suffocation, but that will be confirmed only after autopsy report is out.”
“Another minor is recuperating and kept under observation in ICU. She is out of danger, but such patients usually are facing the risk of infections,” he said.
An official from the civic body’s disaster management cell said they received a call about a level one (minor) fire in the noon. A fire official said, “Using pump room for residential purpose is illegal hence we have directed the concern nominated an officer to lodge a complaint at the police station against office bearers of the society.”
