14 dead, mostly women, as fire guts Mumbai's Kamala Mills Compound

Mumbai: At least 14 people were killed after a massive fire broke out at a building in Kamala Mills Compound in the Lower Parel area of Mumbai.

Majority of those killed are women, according to civic authorities.

According to reports, a 28-year-old woman celebrating her birthday was among those who died.

Several others were injured in the incident and were rushed to the King Edward Memorial (KEM) Hospital and the Sion Hospital.

The doctor who performed the postmortems said that all the 14 deaths were due to suffocation.

'Postmortem reveals that all the 14 deaths were due to to suffocation,' Dr Rajesh Dere said.

The fire broke out shortly after midnight on the third floor of the four-storeyed building on Senapati Bapat Marg, a commercial hub of the city, a civic official told PTI.

The building, in Central Mumbai, houses some commercial establishments including hotels.

According to the official, the cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained.

Several fire tenders, water tankers, emergency ambulances and police personnel rushed to the spot for the rescue operation.

An FIR has been registered against the restaurant '1 Above' where the fire initiated in Mumbai's Lower Parel locality.

The case has been filed under section 304 (charges of culpable homicide) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Transmission of the television channels ET Now, Mirror Now, Zoom and TV9 Marathi were affected due to the fire.

President Ram Nath Kovind expressed his condolences to the bereaved families. The President also commended the valiant efforts of fire-fighters and those in rescue operations.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also tweeted on the incident that claimed 14 lives.

Soon after the incident President of Yuva Sena Aaditya Thackeray took to Twitter and called the incident "unfortunate".

Aaditya also said the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will come down hard on the violations of fire safety norms.

(With inputs from agencies)