Mumbai building blaze kill two firemen

Mumbai: Two fire fighters of Mumbai Fire Brigade perished while battling a conflagration in a Mumbai building, an official said today.

The firemen - M.N. Desai and S.W. Rane were reported missing since late Saturday evening when they rushed to fight the fire, an official of BMC Disaster Control said.

Their badly charred bodies with more than 80 percent burns were recovered from the debris around 12.30 a.m., the official said.

Besides, chief fire officer of Mumbai Sunil Nesrikar and another senior officer S.G. Amin suffered serious burns in the incident.

After initial treatment they were shifted to National Burns Centre in Navi Mumbai where their condition is reported stable.

These officers were deployed in combating a huge fire in 50-year old under repair Gokul Niwas in the congested Kalbadevi area of south Mumbai Saturday evening.

Four persons trapped inside the building were evacuated and scores of others from adjoining buildings were evacuated as a precaution in case the blaze spread further.

Midway during the firefighting, the building collapsed in parts burying the two firemen Desai and Rane.

After more than seven hours of operations the fire was brought under control around midnight.

Currently cooling operations are on and probe to ascertain the cause of the blaze which took heavy toll on the fire department.