A Level-II fire broke out at the Enforcement Directorate (ED) office housed in the Kaiser-I-Hind building at Ballard Estate, South Mumbai, in the early hours of Sunday. Officials have confirmed no casualties.
The Mumbai Fire Brigade control room received a call at 2:31 am alerting them to the blaze at the multistorey building located near the Grand Hotel on Currimbhoy Road. The structure houses the ED’s South Mumbai office.
Initially, firefighting and rescue teams were rushed to the scene. By 3:30 am, the fire had intensified and was upgraded to Level-II status, which the control room said denotes a "major fire". A civic official added that the fire was confined to the fourth floor of the five-storey building.
Efforts to contain the blaze saw the deployment of eight fire engines, six jumbo tankers, an aerial water tower tender, one breathing apparatus van, a rescue van, a quick response vehicle and an ambulance.
"The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained," a civic official said.
Other fire-related incidents
In a separate incident, a fire broke out at a car showroom in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghaziabad on Saturday night, gutting five vehicles. A fire officer stated that the fire caused significant damage before it was brought under control, adding that no injuries were reported.
Meanwhile, in Tamil Nadu's Virudhunagar district, a massive explosion at a fireworks factory at M Pudupatti, near Sivakasi, claimed the lives of at least three women and left six others injured. According to a PTI report, officials recovered the charred remains of the three women from the site, and the injured were admitted to nearby hospitals.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin expressed condolences over the loss of lives and announced an ex gratia of ₹4 lakh to each of the families of the deceased. He also approved ₹1 lakh for those seriously injured and ₹50,000 for those who suffered minor injuries.
Last month, a separate fire incident was reported at the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) area in Shiravane, Navi Mumbai. Twelve fire engines were dispatched to the site, but no injuries were reported.
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