Mumbai: A floor of a high-rise residential building in the posh Dadar area of Mumbai was engulfed in a fire on Wednesday, resulting in the death of four persons and injuries to 21 others, officials said.
Nearly three dozen people were rescued from the 17-storey Crystal Tower building after the blaze erupted on the 12th floor, the fire department officials said.
After a fire broke out, ten-year-old Zen Sadavarte showed her presence of mind by employing safety tips she had learnt at school to ensure that her family and neighbours remained safe. Zen stays with her parents and a brother on the 16th floor in the building. A student of Class VI of Don Bosco School in suburban Matunga, Zen recalled and put to use the fire safety tips she had learnt during a school project in Class III, which ensured her family and others remained safe until the fire brigade personnel arrived.
The blaze, which broke out on the 12th floor of the posh residential building, killed four people and injured at least 16 others.
Zen said she was sleeping when her parents, who spotted smoke and woke her up. “Since it was a holiday today on account of Eid, I slept a bit longer. My parents woke me up and when they opened the kitchen window, the entire flat was filled with smoke. My neighbours and a few others had gathered by the time,” she said.
“I saw everybody on the floor was panicked, frustrated and disturbed due to the fire... All of us went to our neighbouring flat in search of safe place, where I asked them to be calm,” Zen said. “With the help of cotton, water and cloth pieces we made purifiers and handed them over to all the people in the flat,” Zen added.
“I asked everyone to keep the purifiers on their mouth. This stopped them from suffocating due to smoke and they were able to breath well, preventing inhalation of carbon dioxide,” she said.
When a cotton piece is soaked in water, you can breath almost normally as carbon molecules are separated by the water. She also advised them to wash their head so that they do not panic, Zen said.
