150 feared trapped in Thane powerloom unit fire

Fire broke out on Tuesday morning in a residential building at the powerloom town of Bhiwandi in Thane district, with about 20 residents rushing to the terrace to escape the blaze.

No casualty was reported so far. However, an elderly woman sustained minor wounds while being rescued. According to initial reports, at least 150 people are feared to be trapped.

The blaze occurred in a godown where powerloom-related material like oil and yarn were stored on the ground floor of three-storey Aam Manzil, a building in a residential locality of Nagaon in Bhiwandi, Bhiwandi-Nizampur Municipal Corporation's disaster control section chief, Namdeo Gaikwad said.

Bhiwandi tehsildar Vaishali Lambhate said that residents took shelter in the terrace of the building after the fire broke out.

Fire tenders from Kalyan, Thane, and four fire stations of Bhiwandi were rushed to the spot and the blaze was brought under control, he said.

About 15-20 people in the building were shifted to the top floor as a precautionary measure since cooling operations were underway on the ground floor, he said.

The fire broke out at around 7.30 am in the godown and spread in other rooms on the ground floor, he said.

The presence of oil drums at the place led to the fire spreading in other rooms, he said. Once the cooling operations are through, those trapped in the building would be brought down, Gaikwad said.

Short-circuit was suspected to be the cause of the blaze. However, the official said the exact cause of the fire was yet to be ascertained.

Senior officials of the civic body, fire brigade and police department were at the spot.