Mumbai market fire doused after 45 hours

MUMBAI: Nearly 45 hours after a fire erupted at a commercial building in a congested cutlery market in south Mumbai, fire personnel on Tuesday afternoon managed to douse the flames completely, officials said.

This is probably the first time after the 2012 blaze in the state secretariat that a fire fighting operation has gone on for so long in the metropolis, they said.

The blaze was put out around 1:15 pm and cooling operation is underway, officials said.

The fire broke out around 4.30 pm on Sunday in the ground-plus-three-storey Ismail building, located near Juma mosque in densely-populated Masjid Bunder area--a prominent commercial hub in the financial capital with several markets, shops and godowns located along a network of narrow roads.

It was initially tagged as a 'level-3' (major) fire, but later escalated to 'level-4' (massive), they said.

On Monday, two fire brigade personnel were injured during the operation.

They were later discharged after treatment.

Seventeen fire vehicles, as many jumbo water tankers and three turn-table ladders had been pressed into service to douse flames.

The cause of the blaze was yet to be ascertained, a fire official said.

As the building has godowns housing garments, cutlery and chemicals, thick smoke was emanating from it, making it difficult to put out the inferno, another official had said.