Flaming Roof & a Narrow Exit: Survivors Recount Kamala Mills Fire

An eyewitness recounts the sequence of events inside the restaurant in the tragic incident that left 14 dead.

Kamala Mill fire tragedy victims’ friends wait outside a hospital early on Friday morning.

(Photo: Reuters)

Fire engulfed the Trade House Building in Kamala Mills compound in Mumbai’s Lower Parel in the wee hours of Friday, 29 December, killing 14 people, mostly women. The fire broke out at the ‘1 Above’ restaurant, the reason for which is still being probed, and then spread to ‘Mojo’ pub.

Survivors who were present at the eatery recalled the horrific blaze that injured around 16 people.

Dr Sulbha Arora told The Quint that she was dining at ‘1 Above’ with a friend when they saw flames at one end of the restaurant at around 12-12:15 am.

The roof of the premises looked like a trampoline and within 15 seconds, the fire spread inside the entire restaurant. The staircase to ‘1 Above’ was too narrow for people to escape and so a stampede-like situation ensued. I fell down and was trampled by people too. I could see the flaming roof about to collapse on me. Luckily, my friend who had already gone ahead realised that I had fallen and came back to get me.

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For some survivors, the narrow exit from the eatery made getting help quite hard. “Around 150 people were in ‘1 Above’ restaurant when fire broke out at 12:30 pm. We rushed to the exit gate but it was narrow. It was difficult to escape. Somebody dropped us at the hospital,” said Siddharth Shroff, who is injured with 20 percent burns.

Arora said that in all the chaos, there was no point trying to take the staircase as some were returning to look for friends and family members they left behind, which created a two-way gridlock.

Thankfully, the staff ushered some of us through the kitchen, which was the only other point of exit from the restaurant. We escaped using the back gate while the staff members patiently helped us. We could feel the flames rushing behind us. Even the security guards downstairs were asking everyone to evacuate in order, trying to calm people down.

Sulbha Arora, Eyewitness

After escaping outside, Arora asked a staff member of the restaurant if his colleagues were out. She was told that most of them stayed till the customers had evacuated.

Within minutes of the fire, ambulances, police vans and at least 8 fire tenders had reached the spot. It was good to see such a quick response. Thankfully, I made it out with only very minor injuries but others were not so lucky.

Sulbha Arora, Eyewitness