In a heart-wrenching news, former IPL star Paul Valthaty on Monday (October 23), as his sister and nephew lost their lives when fire broke out in nine-storey building in Kandivli, Mumbai.
Among the victims of this tragedy were Valthaty's sister Glory Valthaty (45) and his young nephew Joshua Gems Robert (8). Glory and Joshua were in Mumbai on a family visit from Scotland.
It was also learnt that when the fire erupted, Paul Valthaty, who had earlier featured for IPL Teams like Kings XI Punjab and Rajasthan Royals, was reportedly on the ground level, assisting people to evacuate the building and ensure their safety. The Valthaty family resided on the fourth floor of the F wing of the Veena Santoor Cooperative Housing Society where the fire broke out.
Glory was in Mumbai to visit her ailing parents. When the fire broke down the entire family was present inside their apartment. As the fire intensified, Paul, accompanied by his wife, children, and Glory's elder daughter, hastily made their way downstairs. In a distressing turn of events, Glory, her son Joshua, and their two house helps got trapped in the building's staircase, as they were trying to escape the inferno.
“Glory’s husband, Noel Robert, remained inside with the unwell parents, urging his wife and son to evacuate along with their house helps. It's perplexing why they chose to descend instead of heading upwards towards the terrace,” Gladstone Behra, a family member, said as reported by Indian Express.
Mumbai's Fire Brigade officials, upon investigating the cause of the fire, found that an unattended burning diya in a first-floor apartment of the building's F wing was the likely origin. Ravinda Ambulgekar, Chief Fire Officer of the Mumbai Fire Brigade, stated to the Indian Express, “The fire seemingly began from a burning diya inside an apartment and rapidly spread, fueled by the building's electrical wiring.”
Further investigations revealed that the building lacked a fully functional firefighting system. Smoke rapidly engulfed the structure, trapping residents on upper floors.
Among the injured were two house helps, Rajeshwari Adhe and Laxmi Bura, who sustained severe burn injuries. Adhe, who hailed from Yavatmal, had been employed with the Valthaty family since June, while Bura, a recent addition to the household staff, was from Karnataka’s Yadgir district. Additionally, Ranjan Shah, a 75-year-old resident of the building, incurred burns amounting to almost half her body.
It took the fire brigade approximately four hours to subdue the flames and bring the situation under control.
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