Mumbai: Two unidentified persons were charred to death and four suffered burns, one critically, after a fire broke out at a scrap material godown in Sakinaka, Andheri East, on Tuesday evening.
The blaze at Abdul Rashid Compound on Khairani Road was reported to Mumbai Fire Brigade at 6.18 pm and declared a Level-II fire at 6.37 pm. It was extinguished by 12.30 am Wednesday, more than six hours later.
A Sakinaka police team led by inspector Nitin Patil recovered the two unidentified charred bodies from the area where aerosol containers were stored. They were sent to Rajawadi Hospital for post-mortem examination.
The four injured were taken to Rajawadi Hospital by police and in private vehicles before firefighters arrived. Tofik Shadilal Qureshi (20) suffered 80% burns to his hands, chest, abdomen, legs, neck and face. Jahid Abidullah Qureshi (20) and Kamal Jalaluddin Shah (42) suffered 40% burns to their hands, chest and face. Lalchand Gautam (40) sustained 10% burns to his right shoulder and face. All four were admitted to the trauma ward.
The fire spread across 60-70 commercial galas and chawls in a ground-floor and partially ground-plus-one-floor structure, covering an area of around 4,000 sq ft. It engulfed electrical wiring and installations, garment stock, plastic granules, scrap, wooden furniture, empty aerosol containers, LPG cylinders, machinery, metal shutters, doors, windows, sheets and steel frames. Two parked two-wheelers and a tempo were also damaged.
Police registered an accidental death report and began an investigation.
A police officer said the unit owner had gone into hiding and they were trying to trace him for details of the workers. Further action would depend on reports from BMC and fire brigade, the officer added.
