Four people died and 18 were injured after a fire broke out at the Crystal Tower residential apartments in Mumbai’s Parel area on Wednesday morning, ANI reported. Two of those dead are yet to be identified.

“Twenty victims were brought to the hospital,” KEM Hospital Dean Avinash Supe said. “Four are dead, one of them a woman. The other 16 patients, six of them women, are stable.” Two fire fighters have sustained minor injuries. At least two were taken to Global Hospital.

The fire service received a call at 8.32 am and reached the high-rise at 8.40 am, an official said. The blaze was doused after almost two hours, reported ANI.

The fire was confined to the 12th floor, but many people were stranded on the top floors and the staircase because the smoke spread rapidly, the Hindustan Times reported. The building has 17 floors.

Fire emergency officials said two people were found dead in the elevator while two others were found in the lobby.

“The area around the lift of the 12th floor was the worst affected,” Chief Fire Officer P Rahangadale said. “But the situation is under control. Fire fighting operations are over, and cooling operations are on. A complaint will be lodged on charges of criminal offence against the responsible society official. The building has been declared unsafe and power and water supply stopped for now.

The fire was initially categorised as Level 2 (medium), but was soon made a Level 3 (major) blaze. The cause is yet to be ascertained.

“Height and congestion proved a major challenge in fire fighting,” Deputy Chief Fire Officer R Chaudhari said. “And the building’s fire fighting system was not working, so that is a major problem in dealing with high-rise fires.” Electric ducts on each floor were not sealed which is believed to be a major cause for the fire.

On June 13, a blaze broke out at a residential building on Prabhadevi’s Appasaheb Marathe Marg in Mumbai. The fire was contained to the 32nd and 33rd floors, and around 90 people were rescued.

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