The five men, all from UP, were having dinner at Aqsa Bake & Bite in Jogeshwari West when the chimney collapsed on them on Saturday night. Aishwarya Maheshwari
Three persons died while two others were left with head injuries after the chimney of a bakery, Aqsa Bake & Bite, in Jogeshwari West collapsed on them Saturday night. The deceased as well as the injured were workers of the bakery located on S V Road. They were taken to Cooper Hospital in Andheri and Balasaheb Thackeray Trauma Care Centre in Jogeshwari East. The deceased have been identified as 22-year-old Kismat Ansari, 21-year-old Jitendra Ansari and 22-year-old Teji Bhargava. Fire department officials said the incident occurred at around 10.30 pm on Saturday and the rescue operation went on till about 3 am on Sunday.
“The 30-40-feet tall chimney on top of the bakery collapsed on them probably because the structure was old and due to the impact, the loft of the adjoining structure also collapsed. Of the five people we rescued from under the debris, three were alive at the time. They were all sent to the Thackeray Trauma Care Centre. But one of them didn’t survive,” said P D Sandikar, a fire official who was a part of the rescue operation.
Two of the rescued who suffered head injuries were identified as 48-year-old Azim Mullah and 26-year-old Raju Bharadwaj. While Mullah has been admitted at the Thackeray Trauma Care Centre, Bharadwaj has been admitted at Cooper Hospital. Doctors at the Thackeray Trauma Care Centre said that Bhargava was brought in alive but died a little after being admitted.
“Bhargava had come with severe head injuries and we immediately admitted him and initiated the medical management. But he succumbed to his injuries. Mullah has sustained head injury and shoulder trauma and is in a stable condition right now. Bharadwaj, however, had polytrauma along with head injury and was thus sent to Cooper Hospital where he has been admitted,” said Dr Shashikant Vadekar, the doctor in-charge at the Thackeray Trauma Care Centre.
The five men, all natives of Uttar Pradesh, were having dinner after finishing the day’s work when the chimney collapsed on them. “They were unaware that the heavy iron girdle had fallen from the second floor. They were crushed under the girdle and debris and had little chance of surviving,” said Subhash Khanvilkar, senior inspector, Oshiwara police station.
Officials of the K West office said a preliminary inspection revealed no illegal construction and the exhaust blower and the chimney collapsed because it was old. The police have registered a case of accidental death and are awaiting a report from the BMC into the incident before deciding the next course of action, said Khanvilkar.
