Mumbai building fire: 20 rescued, 40 still trapped on terrace

Fire brigade personnel deployed an aerial ladder to rescue 20 persons from a Mumbai building, where fire broke out Monday afternoon, officials said.

Efforts are on to rescue the around 40 more people trapped, mostly on the terrace of the nine-floor telephone exchange building in western suburb Bandra, an official said.

Earlier, it was feared that nearly 100 persons may be trapped on the terrace of the building.

Two fire brigade personnel, who were exposed to the smoke billowing out of the building, were shifted to nearby hospital for treatment.

Fire is confined to the third and fourth floors, the official said. All those on the terrace are safe and will be rescued soon, he added.

There is no clear picture yet about those on the third and fourth floors, he said.

"We came down from the fifth floor via lift. We saw fire brigade personnel bringing out some people from a smoke- filled floor," a woman said.

Another woman who also managed to come out of the building, said,"When we came to know of the fire, we searched for the staircase, which had become partially invisible due to heavy smoke."