Multiple agencies, including the Mumbai Fire Brigade, Mumbai Police, BEST personnel, 108 ambulance services and BMC ward staff, were rushed to the site.
Mumbai: A fire broke out in the basement of the seven-storey Income-Tax Office building, Aayakar Bhavan, on Maharshi Karve Road in Mumbai’s Churchgate area on Monday afternoon, officials said. No injuries or casualties were reported, while at least 28 people were rescued from the building.
According to BMC officials, the Mumbai Fire Brigade received the initial call at 2.01 pm and declared it a Level-I fire at 2.10 pm. It was subsequently upgraded to Level-II around 2.45 pm.
Multiple agencies, including the Mumbai Fire Brigade, Mumbai Police, BEST personnel, 108 ambulance services and BMC ward staff, were rushed to the site.
Fire officials said smoke spread rapidly through the building because of the central air-conditioning system, forcing rescuers to break window panes to let it out. The blaze affected electrical wiring and installations, record-storage cabins, scrap material, old records, paper stock and wooden partitions.
According to the fire brigade, 15 people were rescued from the first, second and third floors and brought to the ground floor through the staircase.
Another five to six people were rescued from the first floor using an Angus ladder, while eight people who had taken shelter on the terrace were brought down with the help of a turntable ladder.
Assistant commissioner of police Nilesh Bagul said all employees in the building were safely evacuated and no casualties were reported.
Officials were yet to ascertain the cause of the fire or the extent of damage. A fire official said further investigation would determine the origin of the blaze and assess the damage.
Aayakar Bhavan houses several offices of the Income-Tax Department and sees heavy footfall during the day because of its administrative and public-facing functions.
