According to latest updates, 20 people including women and children have lost their lives in a massive building fire in Surat.
The incident occurred on Friday at around 5:30 pm in the Takshila building near the Sarthana zoo in Surat, Gujarat. According to officials, the fire started in the upper floor of the building and quickly spread throughout the entire floor trapping multiple people inside.
Unfortunately due to the heat and smoke from the fire many people tried to climb out of from the window of the building but couldn’t maintain their balance and fell. There are several video showing people desperately trying to get away from the fire but accidentally falling from the building. As the fire broke out in a coaching institute most of the casualties in this incident were children and teachers.
Early reports are suggesting that it took Fire Fighters 40 minutes to reach the scene of the incident. However due to the intensity of the fire their water quickly ran out. Fire Fighters were also unprepared for the people who were jumping out of the window as they didn’t have any net or mat to cushion their landing.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has addressed this incident and said that his “thoughts are with bereaved families.” He has also “asked the Gujarat Government and local authorities to provide all possible assistance to those affected.”
Extremely anguished by the fire tragedy in Surat. My thoughts are with bereaved families. May the injured recover quickly. Have asked the Gujarat Government and local authorities to provide all possible assistance to those affected.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 24, 2019
This is a developing situation and will be updated as more information is released by the authorities.