Man escapes debris to lead rescue of parents, brother

The house at Goregaon was gutted in the fire. Pic/Nimesh Dave

In another incident of a structure collapsing in the city, a two storey-house in a chawl at Ramabai Ambedkar Colony in Ghatkopar (E), collapsed onto a room next to it on Monday morning, leaving four of a family of five injured.

Deepak Khilare, 53, and his wife Sunita, 43, along with their sons Vaibhav and Rohit were trapped in the debris in the room. However, Rohit came to their rescue. "I managed to get myself out from under the debris," said Rohit, 23. The Khilares are admitted to Rajawadi hospital.

Local residents said they called the fire brigade, but they failed to arrive. "Instead of waiting, a few other young people in the area and I took the family out," said 18-year-old Manthan Sonavne, a local. By that time they were rescued, the police had arrived and took the family to the hospital.

Sanjay Manjrekar, chief of Mumbai Fire Brigade, said the family had been pulled out of the debris before they arrived. While the brothers have only suffered minor bruises, their parents were not as fortunate. "Both of their backs are severely injured, and doctors have informed us that they may require surgery," said Vaibhav.

At the time of the incident, the four individuals were sleeping. The Khilares' youngest child, a Std X student, rushed home from school as soon as he learnt about the incident. "He has been silent since morning. I am trying to engage him in light conversation and offering food to get him talking," said Sonavne. The locals and the Khilare brothers said that the chawl was slated for redevelopment, and some people had handed over their rooms to the builder, Pentagon Premises Private Limited.

"The people who handed over their houses to the builder now live elsewhere, as the builder provides them monthly rent. So those structures are abandoned and not adequately maintained," alleged Ganesh Supe, another local resident. The Khilare family's neighbours stated that the family had expressed their concerns about the structural integrity of the house next to them to the builder a month earlier, but nothing was done. Officials of Pentagon Premises Private Limited were unavailable for comment. Vaibhav and Rohit have expressed uncertainty about the future, as the home where their father grew up now lies in ruins.

One killed in gas leak fire

Harish Chavan, 55, died on Monday in a fire that was set off due to cooking gas leakage at Rahivashi Seva Mandal, Goregaon West. Locals said Chavan lived with another person. In the morning, when Harish lit a match to light the gas, the fire broke out. "The other person tried to extinguish the fire but Chavan's clothes were completely engulfed by flames," said a local. "Police are investigating the matter," said a Mumbai Fire Brigade official.

Inputs from Rian Khorana