Retiwala Industrial Estate fire toll rises to 9

Mumbai, Mar 18 (UNI) The toll in yesterday's fire at a unit in the Retiwala Industrial Estate at Byculla here has risen to nine.

The police, meanwhile, have registered a case of negligence against Baljit Gandhi, owner of the perfume manufacturing unit where the fire had broken out.

Five of the nine victims were women. As many as 54 people were admitted in two different hospitals here, police said, adding that 49 people, including seven women, were admitted in the J J Hospital and five more, including a woman, were undergoing treatment in the KEM Hospital.

The fire brigade, meanwhile, has decided to conduct a survey of the industrial units across the metropolis to find out whether proper safety measures have been implemented by their owners.

Chief Fire Officer A V Sawant said here today that the department will survey all the industrial estates to find out whether safety measures have been properly implemented and also to find out if any of the industrial units was storing inflammable materials in violation of the law.

The cause of the fire in the Retiwala Industrial Estate has not yet been ascertained and Additional Commissioner of Police Rajneesh Seth informed that a special team has been constituted to probe the cause. After receiving preliminary report from the fire brigade, the investigations will commence, he said.

The fire had broken out in the perfume manufacturing unit which is situated on the third floor of a four-storeyed building. Each floor on the building houses 25 units.

UNI ST MAZ MIR BST1914