Six firemen choke to death in lift after fighting blaze

Thane: Six firemen suffocated after successfully battling a fire in a multi-storey building here early yesterday, a senior officer said.

The victims suffocated due to toxic fumes which engulfed the lift of the 14-storey building in which they were coming down to ground level after successfully battling a Diwali day blaze on the terrace, Thane Chief Fire Officer Vijay Vaidya said.

They got trapped in the lift and choked in the fumes accumulated there, Vaidya said.

All those killed were from the Wagle Estate Fire Brigade and had answered an emergency call around 4.30am on the top floor of the Punarvasu Building in the posh Tarangan Complex.

Vaidya said it was the second fire call from the same building in less than four hours as people were bursting Diwali crackers.

Ex-gratia payment

"The first call was just before midnight when a minor fire broke out in a flat on the top floor of the building. Our men extinguished it and had returned to the fire station," he said.

Later, a fire broke out on the terrace of the building as people celebrated Diwali, he said.

The victims have been identified as J.C. Singh, Avdhut Thanekar, S.R. Jamadar, Kishore Patil, S.K.S. Shinde and Kale, an official from the fire control said.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan expressed shock at the tragedy and announced an ex-gratia payment of Rs200,000 (Dh15,340) to the families of each of the victims. Besides, the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) also announced Rs500,000 for the families of each of those killed, deputy resident district collector Amol Yadav said.