Mumbai: Renowned psychiatrist dies in Dadar building fire

Dr Sachin Patkar was alone at home when fire broke out; sources say he died of asphyxiation

Renowned city-based psychiatrist Dr Sachin Patkar lost his life in a fire that broke out in a ground plus 15-storey building in Dadar East around 8 am on Saturday.

The fire broke out on the 13th floor and remained confined there. Patkar, 60, who is also the son of veteran psychiatrist, Dr Anand Patkar, was alone in the flat, at the time of the incident. “We received a call at 8.37 am, and the firefighting vehicles reached the spot by 8.44 am. The fire was doused by 9.06 am,” said an official from the fire control room.

Dr Sachin Patkar

While the intensity of the fire was not severe, the smoke is said to have spread rapidly. According to KK Tiwari, the security guard of the building, Patkar lived by himself. There were two flats on the floor. Rajesh Bhapkar, a 12th-floor resident said that Patkar’s flat was most affected in the fire. He was rushed to Sion Hospital, where he was declared dead. 

While his body has been sent for a post-mortem, the hospital said that Patkar is likely to have died of asphyxiation. Other residents in the building were rushed to safety and later allowed into their homes after the fire operations ended.

Fire chief Ravindra Ambulgekar said that the building was fire safety compliant. “Investigations are still going on; the cause of the fire can only be confirmed after that,” he said. 

Psychiatrist Dr Harish Shetty from LH Hiranandani Hospital said that Patkar’s untimely demise was a grave loss for the medical community. “He was extremely bright and very practical. He yielded good results in his decades-long practice. His father was a doyen of psychiatry and one of the earliest ones in the country.” 

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