12 killed and many trapped as shop catches fire in Mumbai

Mumbai: At least 12 persons were killed and another half a dozen trapped in a major fire that engulfed a shop in Andheri east area here on Monday.

According to the BMC Disaster Control, the blaze was reported in the Bhanu Farsan shop on Khairani Raod, near Laxmi Narayan Temple of Sakinaka, around 4.15 am.

Later the structure, said to be around 200 feet in area, came crashing down.

The fire spread to huge stock of eatables, cloth sheets and furniture, trapping many of the workers employed in the shop, according to the shop proprietor.

The cause of the fire is not clear, but around five to six workers managed to escape to safety, eyewitnesses said.

Three fire-tenders, four jumbo water tankers and ambulances fought the blaze which was extinguished within a few minutes, but left a huge trail of death and destruction.