Picture Courtesy: rediff.com
At least 14 people were killed and 19 injured when a fire broke out at a rooftop pub hosting a birthday party and spread rapidly through the building inside the Kamala Mill compound in Lower Parel in the early hours of Friday.
The fire started after 12:30 am at the ‘One Above’ pub on the terrace and quickly spread to Mojo pub on the third floor, said a BMC official.
Most of the victims died of asphyxiation, said Avinash Supe, dean of the KEM hospital where the injured and dead were brought. After preliminary investigations into the cause of the fire, the Mumbai police registered a case of culpable homicide against the owner of One Above.
Meanwhile , According to a report by PTI , The ‘1 Above’ pub, , did not follow fire safety norms and violated regulations on encroachment with obstructions blocking its emergency exit, police and civic officials said .
In its daily crime report, the police also said the pub’s manager and other staff fled from the spot instead of helping the customers injured in the blaze.”No fire safety norms were followed by the pub and the management did not make any arrangement for the safe exit of its customers during the blaze,” police said.
They said there were hindrances created on the emergency exit way. “Negligence on the part of the pub led to the death of 14 customers and injuries to several others.” “The manager and other staff of the pub ran away from the spot without helping those injured in the blaze,” police said.
Meanwhile, a civic official said the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had taken action against the pub more than three times for “violations”. According to the official, the pub had obtained the fire safety and building permissions from the civic body in October 2016.
a civic official said the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had taken action against the pub more than three times for “violations”.
According to the official, the pub had obtained the fire safety and building permissions from the civic body in October 2016.
“However, as ‘1 Above’ flouted the rules and regulations by way of encroachment and other violations, the BMC had taken legal action against its management on May 27 for using the open space for commercial activities,” he said.
Notices had been served on the pub on August 4, September 22 and October 27 this year by the BMC, asking it to stop encroaching on the open space, he said.
“On August 2, we razed a portion of the pub for encroaching upon the open space. Thereafter, on October 22, we seized the open space, where it illegally served the customers. Despite that, the owners of the pub had indulged in violations,” he added.
