6 killed, 11 injured in explosion at under-construction building in Mumbai

At least six labourers were killed in a gas cylinder blast followed by a raging fire late on Wednesday night in an under-construction building here, a civic official said on Thursday.

The incident occurred around 10 pm in the 13-storeyed Prarthana Building on Gulmohur Road in the posh Juhu area. The blaze trapped many workers living there, an official of the BMC Disaster Control said.

Though the fire was confined to a small area, its intensity affected 24 labourers working there. The blaze was later brought under control.

All 24 persons were rescued from the spot, of whom six were declared dead at the BMC's Cooper Hospital. Four more continued to be critical.

Of the rest, eight are undergoing treatment, while six have been discharged.