Short circuit in AC leads to a massive blaze that claims a life and leaves 17 injured
Navi Mumbai : One person was killed and 17 were injured in a major fire at a hotel in Vashi early on Friday morning, civic officials said.
The fire started at 4-45 am and it was brought under control at 8 am, said a spokesperson of Navi Mumbai Fire Brigade.
A short circuit in one of the AC ducts of three-storey Hotel Wanton House apparently led to the massive blaze at the premises, located in Sector 26 A on the Palm Beach Road of Vashi, fire brigade sources said.
The victim has been identified as Salman Khan, an employee of Axis Bank. Khan came to all the way from Bhopal to attend a bank seminar and was staying at the hotel. “He reportedly could not come out of the hotel when the fire took place as the main door of the hotel at the ground floor was closed, said Dr Prakash Jawade, medical superintendent of the Navi Mumbai Municipal hospital, Vashi, adding another bank employee from the same was injured and was admitted at the civic hospital.
At the time of going to press, a hotel employee and 16 Axis bank employees were receiving treatment at the civic hospital for injuries. Meanwhile, two Russians were admitted at the hospital but they were discharged after treatment, said the source.
Most of the injuries happened as they were panicked and running here and there for a safe exit, said a doctor at the civic hospital.
Fire brigade officials said the blaze was brought under control after over four hours of hectic fire-fighting.
“The operation that began at 5 am took more than four hours to end. A lot of time was required to evacuate those trapped in the hotel and bring them to safety. Since the fire was a major one, getting the trapped to safety amidst the smoke was an uphill task. We also did not have a blueprint of the hotel initially which added to the confusion,” a fire official from the Navi Mumbai fire brigade said.
Indra Bhadra
