Santacruz hotel fire: Faulty circuit to blame for deaths at hotel, says fire brigade

Firefighters during rescue ops at Hotel Galaxy on Sunday. Pic/Shadab Khan

A faulty electric circuit was responsible for the three deaths that occurred in Hotel Galaxy at Santacruz on Sunday. During an inspection, the Mumbai Fire Bridge found that there was no fire-safety system in the hotel. The fire brigade has decided to slap notices to the hotel and snap their power and water supply if it fails to install a system.

A Mumbai Fire Brigade official said, "Our team visited the hotel on Monday morning. A faulty electric circuit was found, which must have triggered the spark. Due to the presence of combustible material, the fire spread. It had originated in the second-floor air conditioner. Owing to clothes and wires, dense smoke was created."
The official added, "We have informed the state government's chief electrical inspector about the faculty circuit. They will take action."

Chief Fire Officer Ravindra Ambulgekar said, "We will slap a notice on the persons concerned under the Maharashtra Fire Prevention and Life Safety Measures Act."
According to the Act, there is a deadline 30 to 120-day deadline to set up the fire-prevention system. "But we will not give the owner of the hotel this much time. We will order him to install the fire-safety equipment immediately or we will cut the water and electric supply. "Whether or not Illegal alterations had been carried out will be decided by the civic ward office and officers concerned. We will prepare an inspection report and it will be submitted to our seniors," said a fire bridge official.

The BMC H East ward office health department had recently issued notice to the hotel for failing to adhere to fire safety norms. "We even filed a case against the hotel in court. But the management did not respond to the notice," said a civic official.

Meanwhile, the Vakola police have registered an accidental death report and ordered the management to submit documents.