Home blaze kills senior citizen who stayed alone
MUMBAI: A 65-year-old woman was charred to death after a fire broke out in her third-floor flat at Nirmal Niwas building at Gowalia Tank early on Wednesday. Other residents came out safely after alerting each other.
Nargis Kanga was an unmarried lawyer who stayed alone, said police. “No one came forward to claim her body. As she was a Parsi, we will seek Bombay Parsi Punchayat (BPP) assistance,” said Gamdevi police station senior inspector Gokulsingh Patil.
BPP chairman Yazdi Desai said the punchayat will claim her body in the absence of any relative and will conduct her post-death ceremonies. “Her body has been taken to Nair hospital for post-mortem, which will be conducted on Saturday due to holidays,” he said.
Residents of the building, which is opposite August Kranti Maidan, said Kanga was the only Parsi in the society and they never saw anyone visiting her. She never shared family details with them too and was reportedly unwell for some time. The fire started in her flat around 3am due to a short-circuit while she was asleep. Fire brigade officials stated that they found her body near the bathroom, which indicated that she collapsed before she could reach the main door.
A fourth floor resident above Kanga’s flat noticed the fire and alerted others. Residents said they were asleep when someone knocked on their doors, alerting them about the fire and they panicked. All other residents came out safely and alerted the fire brigade.
Kanga’s main door and safety door were locked from inside and firemen struggled to break them. The fire spread due as many documents were in her flat along with old furniture. The blaze was doused with four fire engines after five hours.
The residents decided to protect Kanga’s belongings after police did a panchnama and locked the main door. A resident said, “She was staying here for many years but never interacted with us. We hope police find out if she has relatives.”
