60-year-old man suffocates to death as fire breaks out in Mumbai high-rise

Though the fire was brought under control in half an hour, a resident of the building, Sachin Patkar, became unconscious due to the smoke, the official said. Patkar was rushed to the civic-run Sion hospital where doctors declared him dead, the official said.

A 60-year-old man died of suffocation after a fire broke out in a 15-storey residential building in Mumbai's Dadar area on Saturday morning, a fire official said. The fire started in flat number 1302 on the 13th floor of the Raintree building at Hindu Colony around 8.30 am. The apartment was stuffed with household materials and locked, the official said. Though the fire was brought under control in half an hour, a resident of the building, Sachin Patkar, became unconscious due to the smoke, the official said. Patkar was rushed to the civic-run Sion hospital where doctors declared him dead, the official said. Two fire engines, a water tanker and other firefighting equipment were pressed to douse the fire. The exact cause is yet to be determined, he added.