Thane: Six fire fighters choke to death

Thane, Oct 18: Six fire fighters were killed due to suffocation after they got struck in a lift in a housing complex where they had gone to put out a blaze in Thane on Sunday morning, Oct 18.

According to Thane Chief Fire Officer Vijay Vaidya, the fire fighters suffocated to death due to toxic fumes while being trapped in a lift engulfed with smoke in a 14-storey building, after they successfully doused off fire on the terrace of the building.

"The first call was just before midnight when a minor fire broke out in a flat on the top floor of the building. Our men extinguished it and had returned to the fire-station," he said.

"Later around 4.30 a.m., they attended another call from the same building where a fire broke out on the terrace of the building as people were bursting crackers," he said.

"After the firemen brought the blaze under control, they were returning from the lift "when the horrible tragedy occurred," Vaidya said.

This is the second major tragedy from the Diwali in India after 32 people were killed in the explosion of a fire cracker shop in the southern state of Tamil Nadu.

OneIndia News