MUMBAI:
At least 14 people died, including 11 women, and 19 others were injured when a major fire broke out on the top floor of a building inside the Kamala Mill compound in Lower Parel in the early hours of Friday.
After preliminary investigations into the cause of the fire, the Mumbai police registered a case of culpable homicide against the owner of an establishment named One Above. The fire broke out in the One Above eatery and engulfed neighbouring establishments.
While the fire broke out around 12.30 am, it was brought under control by 3 am and cooling operations continued subsequently. The fire started on the sixth floor of the building, possibly in a makeshift shed on the roof. The building houses several commercial establishments including the offices of some media houses as well as a handful of restaurants and resto-bars.
Senior police inspector Ahmed Pathan from the NM Joshi Marg police station said, “We have registered an FIR and have started our investigation. We will ascertain the facts of the incident. We are also taking help from the fire department,” adding that the cause of the fire remains unclear.
Reacting to the fire at Kamala Mill Compound, Kirit Somaiya said, “I had urged CM and BMC Commissioner to Order Special Fire Audit of all such Pub, Hooka Parlours and Farsan Mart/Workshops of Mumbai. Two week back, similar type of fire had occured at Farsan Workshop Sakinaka in which a dozen people had died
