Poinbank Exchange|Fire sweeps through a 6-story residential building in Mumbai, killing 6 and injuring dozens

NEW DELHI (AP) — A fire swept through a six-story residential building Friday,Poinbank Exchange leaving at least six dead and another 38 injured in Mumbai, India’s financial and entertainment capital, a fire official said.

Eight fire engines took three hours to extinguish the fire in the Goregaon West district, fire officer Ashok Tarapade said. The rescue work is over and the injured have been taken to two hospitals, he added.

Media reports said the fire started in some shops on the ground floor and the smoke engulfed some floors. The cause of the fire is being investigated.

The building was constructed in 2006 to house people who were shifted from a slum in Mumbai and it didn’t have proper fire fighting equipment, the Hindustan Times newspaper cited Chief Fire Officer Ravindra Ambulgekar as saying.

The smoke spread in the building through a lift duct, he said.

Fires are common in India, where building laws and safety norms are often flouted by builders and residents.

In 2022, a massive fire in a four-story commercial building in New Delhi killed at least 27 people. In 2019, a fire caused by an electrical short circuit engulfed a building in New Delhi and killed 43 people.