Mumbai Mantralaya fire doused after 12 hours

Mumbai, Jun 22: Five people died and at least 12 were injured after

broke out at the Mumbai secretariat office on Thursday afternoon, which was doused after 12 hours.

While the opposition smelled foul as key documents related to the Adarsh and several other scams were kept in the secretariat, the Crime Branch has already begun its probe into the matter.

"We want an impartial probe from possibly fire experts from abroad. We don't think the CBI or Crime Branch will conduct an impartial probe. We want an impartial probe by international experts," said Eknath Khadse, Leader of the Opposition, Maharashtra in an interview with CNN-IBN.

The Maharashtra government, however, confirmed that most of the critical files were lost in the fire. Talking about the Adarsh files, the CBI said that they had the relevant copies of the document.

"I am confident that all the important files will be safe and intact," said State Forest Minister Patang Rao.

The fire was first reported from the office of forest Minister and NCP leader, Babanrao Pachpute at 3 pm. It later gutted the 4th, 5th and 6th floor of the Mantralaya.

At least 5000 people were reported to be present in the building when the incident took place.

Choppers from INS Shikara were pressed into action to rescue trapped people.

The office of Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan was also gutted in the fire. He was, however, not present in the office when the incident took place.

OneIndia News