Mumbai: A 30-year-old security guard fell to death from the balcony of a flat located on the 19th floor of a 61-storey residential building in central Mumbai after a major fire broke out there on Friday, a fire brigade official said.
A video of the tragic incident has gone viral on social media, which shows the man precariously dangling from the balcony just before falling to his death.
The blaze erupted on the 19th floor of One Avighna Park building on Currey Road shortly before noon, the official said.
"After the fire broke out, Arun Tiwari, a security guard of the building, rushed to the 19th floor. But he soon realised that he was trapped and in order to save himself from the blaze, he went to the balcony of the flat, where the fire had erupted. He held on to the balcony's railing and kept precariously dangling from there. He clung to the railing for several minutes before losing his grip and falling to his death," the official said.
After Tiwari fell to the ground, he was rushed to the civic-run KEM hospital, where he was declared dead, he added.
The fire brigade said it as a level-4 (major) fire.
A civic official said the fire was brought under control by 4.20 pm after around four hours of efforts.
Talking to reporters, Municipal Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal said an inquiry will be carried out into the incident.
Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar, who visited the building, said the victim's life could have been saved if the private security guards appointed at the building were well-trained.
The building's security service guards had 15 minutes to act before he lost the grip and fell, she said adding, they should have arranged some large cloth to catch him or spread some mattresses on the floor.
"They had 15 minutes to take necessary steps. Had they caught him in a bedsheet below or put mattresses on the floor, he might have survived," Pednekar said.
He lost his grip before the fire brigade put the ladder to save him, she added.
