Fire Breaks Out In MTNL Building In Mumbai's Bandra; No Casualties, Rescue Ops Underway

Fire broke out at the MTNL exchange building at S V Road in suburban Bandra in the afternoon, fire brigade sources said.

Fire in MTNL building at Mumbai

Mumbai: A major fire broke out in a telephone exchange building in Mumbai's suburban Bandra area on Monday, civic officials said. Fire broke out at the MTNL exchange building at S V Road in suburban Bandra in the afternoon. PTI quoted an official as saying that around 40 people could be trapped on the terrace of the building. A short circuit in the building triggered off the blaze, which first engulfed the third and fourth floor of the building. Fire engines rushed to the spot, an official said. As per latest reports from the incident, fire brigade officials had rescued around 15 people from the terrace of the building with the help of a crane. Around 25 people are still believed to be stranded. The blaze has been classified as Level-4 and 14 fire tenders are present at the spot, ANI reported. There were no reports yet of anyone being injured in the incident.

Mumbai: People trapped in MTNL (Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited) building in Bandra, are being evacuated. A level 4 fire has broken in the building, 14 fire tenders are present at the spot. pic.twitter.com/v5M3lfRWVd

— ANI (@ANI) July 22, 2019

Employees who were rescued by fire fighters said in no time the fire spread inside the building and they had rushed to find safe spots. Reports at 7:20 pm said 84 people were rescued from the building. Incidentally, the building is close to the fire brigade centre. As it is a working day, many persons, mostly MTNL employees, were present inside the building, a civic official told PTI. Fourteen fire engines and other equipment, including a robot van and an ambulance, is engaged in fire fighting. Fire is confined on third and fourth floor of the ground plus nine-floor building," the official said. Fire fighting and rescue operations is in progress and efforts to rescue people stranded on upper floors and terrace of the building are on, he said. ABP News which set up a crew in a near by skyrise showed smoke billowing from the building and people on the terrace waving at the rescue officials.