Bhandup mall fire: Locals bring food and water for firefighters, cops

Tamali Roy lives in the vicinity of the mall. She kept distributing water to the firefighters. Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

As they tried to hose down a raging fire at Dreams Mall in Bhandup West for hours, local resident Tamali Roy ensured the firefighters and cops at the site remained well hydrated to face the challenge.

"I have been distributing water to the fire personnel as they have been here since last night. I am a social worker and stay in this complex," said Roy.

A number of residents were scared as the fire raged throughout the night considering that the shopping centre has towering buildings and the Pawar Public School in its vicinity.

The entire road stretch from Bhandup station to the LBS Road and the arterial LBS Road itself was closed for traffic for the major part of Friday to facilitate movement of emergency vehicles.

Another resident, Janaki Varda from the colony, who helped provide home food to rescuers said that the firefighters and other personnel had been struggling since last night. "There was again a small fire in the morning and it led to a scare as the buildings stand too close to the mall location where there was a fire," she added.

"The fire started last night around 12 and there was all smoke, more than the blazing fire. Breathing was an issue for the immediate building wings near the site. The fire kept on raging inside it seems. Initially, we were told there were no deaths, but later as day dawned, more and more bodies were found. It was really a tragic night," said another resident Darshan Sheth.