Mumbai Masjid Bunder fire yet to be doused even after 40 hours

Over 40 hours after a fire broke out at a commercial building in a cutlery market in south Mumbai, efforts were still on to douse the flames, officials said on Tuesday. Two fire brigade personnel were injured on Monday during the operation. They were rushed to hospital and later discharged after treatment.

The fire broke out around 4.30 pm on Sunday in the ground-plus-three-storey structure, located near Juma mosque in Masjid Bunder area, the officials said. It was initially tagged as a ’level-3’ (major) fire, but later escalated to ’level-4’ (massive), they said.

Seventeen fire vehicles, as many jumbo water tankers and three turn-table ladders have been pressed into service. Firefighters are on the spot and efforts are still underway to douse the flames, a fire brigade official said.

The cause of the blaze was yet to be ascertained, he said. As the building has godowns housing garments, cutlery and chemicals, thick smoke was emanating from it, making it difficult to put out the inferno, another fire official earlier said.

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He said this is probably the first time after the 2012 blaze in the state secretariat that a fire fighting operation has gone on for so long in the metropolis.