A fire broke out at Seawoods Grand Central Mall in Navi Mumbai on Friday morning, sparking fear among shoppers in the mall.
The blaze started around 10.50 a.m. in an under-construction portion at the back of the mall.
A labourer working at the site said, “A multiplex is being constructed on that side of the building. One of the workers had climbed onto a frame and was doing some welding work, when a spark fell onto the packaging material kept under the frame, causing it to catch fire. The mall lies along the train tracks, but the local trains were running normally.”
Meanwhile, the shoppers inside the mall saw fumes of smoke and ran out to the assembly point.
Fire officer Arun Bhoir from Nerul said, “We were informed of the fire around 10.55 a.m. As the packaging material contained a large amount of plastic, thermocol and hay, the fire was spreading rapidly. However, the mall management had already started using their firefighting equipment, and so the fire was brought under control and no casualty was reported. It took around one hour to douse the fire.”
The fire officers asked the labourers to remove the packaging material.
The construction is being carried out by Larsen & Toubro. Officials from L&T refused to comment.
