One fire brigade personnel suffocated to death and 20 others were injured in a major fire that broke out on the top two floors of a 22-storey commercial building in suburban Mumbai, this morning. However, two choppers of Indian Navy and Coast Guard successfully rescued over a dozen firemen trapped on the terrace of Lotus Business Park in Andheri, after the fire they doused, started again.

This morning, a major fire broke out on the 21st floor of commercial building Park on Andheri Link which houses production units of many TV serials and pictures. The fire soon spread to the floors above and below due to gusty winds thus making it difficult to control the fire. The Disaster Management Cell of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation informed that 22 fire tenders and 10 water tankers were pressed into service to quell the blaze while 4 ambulances were stationed at the spot to carry the injured. All the 20 injured firemen have been admitted at Copper Hospital here. The BMC officials informed that the fire has been put off after over a 4-hour operation and presently cooling was on.

According to officials, the blaze started on the 21st floor of the building around 11:30 am and soon spread to the 20th floor and 22nd floor. The 22nd floor has been completely gutted in the fire. The official further said initially they categorised the fire at Grade 2 and sent 12 fire engines to the spot. The strong winds at the top further aggravated the intensity of the flames and they had to further upgrade the fire to the top notch. There are no reports of any civilian casualties as people working in the offices were quickly evacuated by the fire brigade.

However the fire brigade asked for aerial help from Indian Navy and Coast guards to evacuate the trapped fire fighter on the terrace. Following the Navy deployed a Seeking Charlie helicopter and the Coastguard a Chetak to rescue the firemen.