A fire breaks out in the basement of Mumbai’s Income Tax office building ‘Aayakar Bhavan’ in Churchgate, sending smoke through the upper floors. The blaze is reported to be confined to the basement area of the building.
Multiple outlets report that the Mumbai Fire Brigade (MFB) receives the initial call at about 2.01 pm on Monday. One report adds that the MFB declares the incident a Level-I fire at around 2.10 pm. According to a BMC Disaster Management Cell update cited by Free Press Journal, the fire is reported at around 2 pm. Free Press Journal also says fire crews run firefighting operations in parallel with evacuation efforts for people stranded on upper floors.
All sources agree on the location and general containment of the fire to the basement, and that smoke reaches higher levels. They differ mainly on the incident classification timeline and the specifics of rescue and evacuation activities, including the reported use of ladders and that authorities have not yet determined the fire’s cause.
