A huge fire broke out at a Croma showroom in Mumbai's Bandra on Tuesday morning, April 29. After receiving the information, 15 fire tenders rushed to the spot and engaged in firefighting operations. As of now, no injuries or casualties have been reported, according to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). The blaze erupted in a Link Square Mall located on Linking Road in Bandra West. Due to the incident, vehicular traffic in the area was affected.
Visuals from the Spot
Videos shared by residents show that the upper area of the showroom is fully gutted in the blaze, and huge flames of fire and clouds of black smoke were seen coming out from the structure. Chaos in the area was also reported as 15 fire engines as on the lane in at Link Square Mall created jams on the road.
As per the information, the blaze erupted at around 4.10 am at the Croma showroom located in Link Square mall, a three-storey electronic building on the Linking Road in the Bandra West area of Mumbai. The fire incident was first classified as a Level I fire at 4.19 am, and later it was declared Level II at around 4.30 am, and was later declared Level III at 4.50 am, which was the highest severity. Now escalated to Level IV. Firefighting operations are still underway.
The fire was first confined to the basement of the building and later quickly spread to the upper floor, engulfing the entire building within hours. The building includes three basement levels, a ground floor, and three upper floors. Several rescue agencies, including the Mumbai Fire Brigade, Mumbai Police, Adani Electricity, and the Public Works Department (PWD), are currently at the site.
Zeeshan Siddique, National Congress Party (NCP) leader, from Bandra said that a blaze erupted at around 4 am in the morning and due to the negligence of the Mumbai Fire Brigade, the fire broke out in the Linking Square building. "I don't know what reports come later after the investigation, but the fire broke out because of the negligence of fire bridge."
The NCP leader further stated that it started with a small spark in a Croma showroom situated in the basement of the building. "We have requested MFB more than 100 times to bring more water, but no equipment was available with the firefighters; if the equipment was there, they didn't know how to operate it."
"The back par of the mall was remained unaffected at that time when we asked fire brigade to bring more water, but they are unable to use equipment. There were gas cylinders on the top floor, it could be a major tragedy in the area. The fire department has failed to control the fire," said Siddique from the spot.
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The cause of the fire remains under investigation. This is the second major fire in the city after the blaze erupted at an Enforcement Directorate (ED) office at Ballard Estate area in Mumbai. The Mumbai Fire Brigade (MFB) received the call about the fire at the Kaiser-I-Hind building on Currimbhoy Road, where the ED office is situated. The fire broke out at around 2.30 am on Sunday night.
The fire was upgraded to Level II at around 3.30 despite firefighting operations. A civic official said the fire was confined to the fourth floor of the five-storey building. Eight fire engines were deployed at the spot and brought the blaze under control after several hours of struggle.