A major fire broke out in an illegal slum cluster in Mahim before dawn on Friday, killing six persons, including four from one family. It is being claimed that one of the deceased was over 100 years old.
The bodies were charred beyond recognition and were identified by relatives on the basis of the places they were found in. The police have refused to release the bodies, saying DNA tests have to be done.
Witnesses said the fire started around 5.15am in a hardware godown and spread in Naya Nagar. The flames leapt easily from one shanty to another in the packed cluster of about 1,300 one to four-storey structures. Four cylinders in the shanties also blew up, fanning the flames.
The fire brigade reached around 5.32am and took about two hours to control the fire. By that time, at least 100 shanties had been gutted. Residents said the flames were so strong that cars and streetlights across the road were also damaged.
Fire-fighters said the eight fire engines pressed into service could not pass through the narrow lanes and they had carry the water pipes to the affected area. "It was difficult to fight the fire in the slum. The fire was spreading quickly because there were godowns of wooden and plastic material," said a senior official.
The dead were identified as Safi Mohammed (106), Sadil Hamisa Sayed (45), Asatullah Sayed (28) and Chanda Sayed (18), all from one family, and Chand Mohammed (45) and Babloo Verma (27). Locals said Safi Mohammed was bed-ridden and couldn't run to save himself. The rest of the family got trapped as their house was almost at the epicentre of the blaze.
"The Sayed family had shifted to this area only a few months ago. Asatullah Sayed was visiting and would have stayed another week," said Saru Bano, a neighbour.
Nine persons suffered burns and were taken to Bhabha hospital in Bandra. "It was a stampede-like situation. People just woke up and rushed out of their homes. After some cylinders burst, people began dragging out the cylinders in their house," said Rizwan Siddique, who managed to escape the flames.
The Naya Nagar slum on collector's land near Sion-Trombay road in Mahim has not been notified as legal because most of the structures came up after 1995, some as recent as six months ago.
"According to our records, the slum is illegal. The decision whether compensation will be given will be the state government's," said Chandrashekhar Oak, collector.
Saturday 26 January 2013
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Six-including-centenarian-killed-in-illegal-Mahim-slum-blaze/articleshow/18189986.cms
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