Mumbai Fire: PM Modi Announces ₹2 Lakh Ex Gratia; State To Provide ₹5 Lakh To Families Of Deceased, Free Treatment To Injured

Mumbai: After the tragic fire incident in Goregaon on Friday which killed seven people and injured 69 others, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister of Maharashtra Eknath Shinde expressed grief and announced monetary compensation for families of the deceased. While PM Modi announced an ex-gratia of two lakh rupees from PMNRF to the next of kin of each deceased and ₹50,000 for injured, CM Shinde said an ex-gratia of ₹5 lakh will be given to kin of deceased, adding that the state government would bear the expense of treatment for injured at government-run hospitals. 

On Friday evening, CM Shinde accompanied by Shiv Sena MP Gajanan Kirtikar visited the HBT trauma care hospital to meet the injured. Besides, both Guardian Ministers of Mumbai, Mangal Prabhat Lodha and Deepak Kesarkar visited the site of the fire in Goregaon. They also visited injured people going under treatment in hospitals. Lodha has directed a committee of experts to determine the exact cause of the fire and submit a report within the next 15 days. 

Taking it to X, Maharashtra Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis said, "Pained to know about loss of lives in the fire incident @ Goregaon, Mumbai. We are in touch with civic officials and Mumbai Police. All assistance is being provided. My deepest condolences to the families who lost their loved ones and wishing speedy recovery of injured ones."

The fire erupted at the seven-storey SRA building ‘Jay Bhavani’ near Azad Maidan at 3:05 am in Goregaon West on Thursday. The level 2 fire was extinguished by 6:54 am. 

According to the BMC, seven people succumbed to injuries and 69 were injured. The injured were admitted to Cooper Hospital, HBT Hospital Jogeshwar, Lifeline Hospital, Matoshree Gomati Hospital, and Suvidha Hospital.

Fire spread quickly due to combustible materials

According to the information shared by the fire brigade, fire erupted on the ground floor and spread quickly because of combustible materials lying on the staircase, varanda and parking area.

The chief fire brigade officer said, "We reached on time and rescued people. Fire erupted on the ground floor and spread quickly because of combustible materials lying on the staircase, varanda and parking area. The elevator became non-functional and our fire fighting Jawans swung into action and rescued people."

"It was an SRA building and was constructed in 2006. There was no fire fighting equipment installed in the building,” the officier added.

Another senior fire brigade officer on the condition of anonymity said, "Prima facie, a short circuit does not appear to be the cause of the fire as there were no electric meter or wire installations in the parking. The police and fire brigade department are investigating the matter and we will come to a conclusion in the next few days." 

BMC chief Iqbal Singh Chahal said, "Fire brigade vehicles reached the spot within a few minutes and started the rescue operation. Some children have sustained minor burn injuries and we are shifting them to Kasturba hospital for plastic surgery.”

Sameer Desai, former corporator from Goregaon West told FPJ, "People from the Vagari community that sell crockery in exchange of clothes live inside the building. After the weekly market, they stored all the cloth and rags bundles in the premises of the building, including on the staircase. It seems that some of them were smoking bidis or cigarettes which might have caused the fire.”