70 year old woman dies in fire in Mumbai highrise

A 70-year-old woman died and eight other people suffered from suffocation after a fire broke out in a 13-storey residential building in Kurla area of Mumbai on Wednesday, officials said.

The blaze erupted at around 7 am in the building located in Premier compound, Kohinoor City, following which some people were stranded on different floors due to smoke in the premises. They were taken to the building's terrace and rescued with the help of a staircase, a civic official said.

The fire was confined between the 4th and 10th floors of the building, he said.

Nine people suffered from suffocation and they were rushed to the nearby Rajawadi Hospital where one of them, a woman identified as Shakuntala Ramani, was declared "brought dead", the official said.

The eight others were admitted to the hospital and their condition was stable, he said.

After the Mumbai police room received the blaze alert, four fire engines and several other fire-fighting vehicles were rushed to the spot.

The blaze was doused by 8.45 am, the official said.

The cause of the fire was yet to be ascertained.