Window grille traps family as fire guts flat in high-rise

An attempt to take refuge in a window grille after their house caught fire proved fatal for a child and another family member, police said Wednesday.

Both were charred to death when the fire gutted the apartment, located on 10th floor of a 21-storey building on Veera Desai Road in suburban Andheri, on Tuesday night, an official at the Oshiwara police station said.

The family was performing a puja when the blaze started in their house around 8.20 pm.

The child and another family member rushed towards the window in their drawing room to save themselves. But, they could not move out because of the iron grille installed there and died as the fire engulfed the premises, the official said.

The deceased were identified as Sagar Sharma (7) and Vicky Sharma (25), he said.

Three other family members were later rescued from the bedroom. One of them received 25 per cent burn injuries and was admitted to a nearby hospital, he said.

The fire later spread to some portion of 11th floor of the building, located on Veera Desai road, an official of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC) disaster management cell said.

Five fire engines and four jumbo water tankers were pressed into service and the flames were doused after about two hours, the BMC official said.

The bodies were later retrieved and sent for postmortem, he said, adding that the exact cause of the fire would be ascertained after an inquiry into the incident.