Three firemen were injured in an accident during a mock drill in a high-rise building in Matunga east. Around 10 am on Saturday, a team of firefighters were conducting a mock drill in the 17-storey Shree Nidhi building at Brahmanwada when the incident took place.
While one fireman, Sadashiv Karve, received severe injuries in his leg and head, the other two — Chanchal Pagare and Nivritti Ingawale — are stable. All three are being treated in Sion Hospital.
The session was conducted in a bid to organise awareness regarding firefighting. Mumbai Fire Brigade officials said that all three were performing basic firefighting skills and later they were using water hoses to demonstrate how it is used in firefighting.
During the mock drill, all the three were standing next to each other near a fire tender, which was connected to a fire hose. Suddenly another fire tender moved towards them and they came between both vehicles, said an official.
“All three were stuck between these two fire engines. It looks like one vehicle lost control due to pressure of water that was released from it during the mock drill and it moved to the other side causing the accident,” said an official from BMC.
Chief Fire Officer, Hemant Parab said that they have ordered an inquiry to find out the cause of the accident and after which appropriate action will be taken.
Meanwhile, a fire broke out in a meter box at the four-storey Khwaja Mahal building in Bhendi Bazar on Saturday. No injuries were reported in the incident. According to the officials from the Disaster Management Cell, about 50 people were safely rescued from the building by firefighters. The fire started around 2.30 from the meter box due to a short circuit. The fire was doused in one hour.
