Mumbai: A 64-year-old man died while his wife and two firemen were injured after a fire broke out on the top floor of the Atlantic Building on Sherly Rajan Road in Bandra West late on Wednesday night. The fire was brought under control close to midnight. Initially, several people were feared to have been trapped inside the building.According to the Mumbai Fire Brigade, the incident was reported at 9.12 pm and was upgraded to a Level-I fire at 9.55 pm. The blaze was extinguished at 11.50 pm after an intensive firefighting operation involving fire brigade personnel, police, 108 ambulance services, Adani Electricity staff and ward officials. The fire spread across the electrical wiring, electrical installations and household articles in Rooms 701 and 702 on the top floor of the ground-plus-seven-storey building. Civic authorities later confirmed that Azim Barodawala (64) was brought dead to Bhabha Hospital while his wife was injured. Besides, two firefighters also sustained injuries while battling the blaze. Shivshankar Bharat Puri (32), attached to Bandra Fire Station, and Navnath Mohan Bite (34) were admitted to Bhabha Hospital after suffering suffocation during the operation.Residents claimed that the fire originated from an air-conditioner blast in the deceased’s flat in the building. “An AC blast occurred in the deceased’s room, following which the fire spread to the entire floor. Smoke reached their refrigerator area, and the blaze intensified,” said a resident. According to her, the ceiling collapsed during the incident, trapping the deceased inside the flat.Fahima Sheikh, who lives in a slum settlement behind the building, said she woke up after hearing screams. According to Sheikh, firefighters managed to rescue the injured woman by pulling her out of the building, but were unable to save her husband, as the fire had already engulfed the flat. She said that theman who died had gone to the washroom when the blast happened.Another resident of Sherly Rajan Road stated that firefighters reached the spot at 9 pm, which is nearly an hour after the AC blast happened. Authorities have yet to confirm the cause of the fire, and an investigation is underway to ascertain it. “The residents of the buildign have been asked to move out to other places with their belongings,” a security guard of Atlantic Building said.
