Mumbai: The massive fire that broke out at the MTNL building on Monday afternoon was brought under control after a five-hour-long operation.
Fire officials have confirmed that they were able to rescue all 84 persons, most of whom were telephone exchange employees, who were trapped in the building’s terrace area.
The fire, classified as a grade IV one, was confined mainly to the third and fourth floors of the nine-floor building. It was doused using a newly introduced robot van that can both detect and douse flames.
A fire official, identified as 25-year-old Sagar Datta Salve, was injured in the fire. He was rushed to the nearby Bhabha hospital, where he is being treated for burn injuries. His condition is stable at present, a fire official told The Wire.
The MTNL building is incidentally located near a fire brigade centre in suburban Bandra. As it is a working day, many persons, mostly MTNL employees, were present inside the building, civic officials told PTI.
Fourteen fire engines and other equipment, including the robot van and an ambulance, were deployed.
Fire fighting and rescue operations are in progress and efforts to rescue people stranded on upper floors and terrace of the building are on, the civic official was quoted as having said in the afternoon.
Visuals on TV channels showed smoke billowing from the building and people on the terrace trying to signal to those below.
(With PTI inputs)