MUMBAI, India (AP) - Firefighters rescued 89 people after a nine-story office building caught fire on Monday in Mumbai, India’s financial capital, an official said. No injuries were reported.
Sixteen fire engines battled the blaze and evacuated people from the building using hydraulic platforms in the city’s Bandra area, fire official Rohan More said. The building houses the offices of a state-run telephone company.
All of the 89 escaped without injuries, More said, adding that he believes everyone had been rescued but firefighters were combing through the building to make sure.
The firefighters restricted the blaze and smoke to the third and fourth floors, where it started, More said. The cause of the fire was not immediately known.
Television images showed people breaking window panes and waving to firefighters to evacuate them.
A woman who was rescued told the New Delhi Television news channel that she and some others were rescued from the fourth and fifth floors of the building.
A newly introduced robot, Robofire, was used to control the blaze, the Press Trust of India news agency reported, without giving details.
Fires are common in India, where building laws and safety norms are often flouted by builders and residents. In February, 17 people were killed by a fire in a six-story hotel in New Delhi that started in an unauthorized rooftop kitchen.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.