Posh high-rise which caught fire didn't have OC: Official

The high-rise residential building which caught fire here this morning, killing four people, did not have the Occupation Certificate, a civic official said.

A notice had been issued in 2016 to the building's developer and its 58 occupants but it was challenged in court, he said.

Four people, including a woman, were killed and 18 others injured in the fire that erupted on the 12th floor of the 17-story Crystal Tower building, located near Hindmata Cinema.

Two bodies were recovered from a lift on the 12th floor, a fire brigade official said.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's building proposal department had issued a notice under section 353(a) of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation (MMC) Act to the developer, architects and all 58 occupants of the Crystal Tower on October 26, 2016, the civic official said.

"The building has been occupied without having been certified...therefore, the building is vacated within seven days and not to cause it to be reoccupied until it has been duly certified," the BMC had said in its notice.

However, the notice was challenged by the builder in the Shindewadi court here and the matter is sub-judice, the official said.

The building did not have the OC and its firefighting system was not in place, which resulted in the flames spreading on the upper floors, an official at the fire brigade control room said.

"The blaze erupted on the 12th floor of the building and spread rapidly to flats on the other upper floors. Because of the smoke and heat, the residents on those floors got trapped," Mumbai fire brigade chief P S Rahangdale said.

Around 30 to 35 people were rescued from the building's staircases, where the firemen reached wearing breathing apparatus, he said.

The building's electric duct was not sealed on each floor and this was a major cause of the fire and smoke spreading on the upper floors, Rahangdale said.

"The building's firefighting system was also not in a working condition. It was a major challenge for us to put all our firefighting resources on the upper floors," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)