Punjab Mahal society in Bhendi Bazaar.Two elderly women were killed in a fire broke that broke out in a residential building in Bhendi Bazaar late Thursday night, police said. While all the 48 families living in the building managed to escape, the two women were left behind.
The fire reportedly broke out on the third floor of Punjab Mahal Co-operative Housing Society on Rahudat Tahera Marg around 10.30 pm. All the families residing in the four-storey building were inside at the time when the incident occurred.
According to police, the fire started on the third floor at the residence of Maqbool Warifwala and spread upwards. As a thick flume of smoke reached the fourth floor, the Master family, residing on that floor, rushed outside along with other fellow residents. Farida Master (67), a tuition teacher, and her neighbour, Nafisa Gittham (70), however, were left behind over some confusion.
It seems, Farida and Gittham had decided to wait for the fire to subside, building secretary Abbas Darukhanawalla said. “Both women thought that the the fire would be extinguished in 5-10 minutes. Nafisa, who lived alone, had gone to Farida’s home to give her company,” he said.
It was only when the fire brigade reached at the spot around 10.50 pm, that they realised that the two women were still trapped inside the building, police said.
Eight fire trucks were rushed to douse the fire, which was classified as a major blaze. It took the fire men over two hours to extinguish the blaze, following which the bodies of the two women were removed from the building.
“The women had stayed inside while everyone else fled. By the time they tried to get out, the building had gone completely dark as the electricity had been disconnected. They had inhaled too much smoke to be strong enough to escape,” Shirish Gaikwad, senior inspector, J J Marg police station, said. A case of accidental death was registered by the police on Thursday.
Darukhanawalla said the 90-year-old building had been acquired by the Saifee Burhani Upliftment Trust (SBUT) as part of its cluster redevelopment project in Bhendi Bazaar. “The SBUT has provided alternative accommodation in different places to us. All tenants have shifted now,” he said.
By Thursday evening, the MHADA also erected a scaffolding along the side of the building affected by the fire and propped up the structure to strengthen it for the upcoming monsoon season.
Punjab Mahal is situated just a lane away from Husaini Building, which collapsed in August 2017, killing 34 people.
