12 workers charred to death in Mumbai shop fire

Mumbai: At least 12 people were killed when a massive fire broke out in a snack shop in Saki Naka-Kurla area in the early hours on Monday, an official said.

The blaze erupted in the ‘Bhanu’ farsan (snack) shop in Makaria Compound on the Khairani Road at around 4.25am following which the structure collapsed, the official from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC’s) Disaster Management Cell said.

Twelve people working inside the shop were trapped due to intense heat and smoke, he said.

The fire spread quickly due to the presence of electric wiring and electrical goods, huge stock of eatables and furniture inside the shop. It led to the collapse of the loft, trapping the workers under the debris, the civic official said.

Three fire engines, four jumbo water tankers, rescuers and ambulances reached the spot and launched a rescue operation, he said.

All the 12 workers were pulled out of the debris and taken to the civic-run Rajawadi Hospital in suburban Ghatkopar where they were declared dead before admission, the official said.

The cause of the fire was not yet known, he said, adding a probe was under way.