Mumbai: The Kothari family, staying on the floor above the flat in which the fire broke out, had to lie on the bathroom floor with the shower running for close to two hours to save themselves.
Hussain Kothari (26) said he was studying for his law exam when he noticed smoke in his bedroom. His parents – Ibrahim and Sakina – and his brother Hujefa (20), were in the living room. He raised an alarm just as the fire started spreading into their house.
“We started fetching water from the bedroom and splashed it around the house, and also placed wet towels under the door. As smoke started filling the house, we all ran into the bathroom and turned the shower on, after which we lay on the floor. The smoke was so thick that we had to take turns sticking our head into the toilet bowl so that we could breathe,” Mr. Hussain Kothari said.
The Kotharis could not even leave the house as the staircase was on fire. They had to wait till the fire brigade doused the flames. All the four members were taken to Holy Spirit Hospital in Andheri.
The family suffered from intense suffocation, with Mr. Ibrahim Kothari being admitted to the ICU. Doctors said that he suffered the most due to his age and the amount of smoke he inhaled. He is expected to be shifted to the general ward by Friday.
Eyewitnesses said that all four were red in the face and unable to speak when they were rescued.
Lamia Bagasrawla, a clinical psychologist, who stays next to Maimoon Building, said, “There was a power cut around the time that the fire broke out. I came out of the house to investigate and saw the third floor flat on fire. The fire brigade took a long time to reach.”
