Fire triggered from Mojo's Bistro, confirms BMC

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in its reports has confirmed that the fire in Mumbai's Kamala Mills started from 'Mojo's Bistro' and spread rapidly to '1 Above' restaurant.

The reports stated that the fire started from the flying embers from the hookah being "illegally" served in the Mojo's Bistro which had partially unauthorisedly covered their terrace and used all kinds of combustible materials for the construction of the same.

Later it's spread to the 1-Above restaurant, which also had very flammable materials and caught fire immediately from the Mojo's Bistro restaurant's common wall side.

The report held the owner of Kamala Mills "equally responsible" and has recommended action against them for renting the space for pubs and restaurants, which did not took any fire safety precautions.

Apart from that, criminal action against the architect and interior designers of the two restaurants has been recommended by the local body, saying that "they acted unprofessionally and have not shown any diligence in construction of such dangerous unauthorised structure and the materials used for the same."

The civic body has recommended a departmental inquiry against 10 municipal officials and has sought three months time to conduct a detailed survey of the compound to investigate the misuse of the floor space index (FSI) incentives.

The report has been handed over to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis that will be later submitted in the Bombay High Court.

Earlier, the owner of the Mojo's Bistro and 1 Above restaurant were arrested in connection of the incident.

Around 14 people were killed and 12 suffered critical injuries in the massive fire that broke out at the Kamala Mills compound in Lower Parel locality in Mumbai in the wee hours of December 29.