Mumbai fire live: Choppers brave gusty winds, rescue trapped fire fighters

6.00 pm: Firemen rescued Naval and Coast Guard choppers rescued an unspecified number of firemen trapped by fire on the terrace of a 22-storey commercial building in western Mumbai suburb on Friday. An official of the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) said that around 15-20 fire fighters were stuck on the terrace of Lotus Business Park on Andheri Link road. Navy and Coast Guard helicopters had to lower ropes on the rooftop to extricate the stranded firemen. The fire fighters were rescued after showers reduced the intensity of the blaze that had forced them to cling precariously to railings and scaffoldings of the glass-facade tower. Helicopters were called in after gusty winds fanned the fire making the evacuation of the fire fighters impossible by any other means. PTI 4.00 pm: 6 people rescued, one dead CNN-IBN reported that six people have been rescued from the building and one person died in the fire. Meanwhile actor Hrithik Roshan had visited the building earlier in the day since he owns six offices there. 3.40 pm: One firefighter reported dead The fire which had been raging on at the building has reportedly claimed the life of one firefighter. According to reports, Navy and Coast Guard helicopters have been summoned to aid rescue operations. Over a dozen fire tenders are reportedly stranded on the roof of the building. 3.30 pm: Firefighters stuck atop Andheri building Around 12 or 13 firefighters are stranded on the terrace of a commercial building in Andheri, Mumbai where a fire had earlier broken out on Friday. A navy chopper has been called in for rescue. [caption id=“attachment_1624213” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Screenshot from video. Courtesy: Youtube[/caption] TV reports showed the firefighters hanging on for life on the scaffolding of what was left of the building in Andheri. According to reports, five personnel have been rescued as the navy chopper is winching the stranded firefighters from the building. The blaze had started on the 21st floor of Lotus Business Park on Andheri Link road, and later spread to the 20th floor, according to fire brigade officials. “We got a call at around 11 am that a fire has broken out in the commercial building. We initially thought it was a grade-1 fire and sent four fire tankers to the spot. The fire was then upgraded to grade 2 and we have now deployed 12 fire engines and nine water tankers at the site,” a fire brigade official had told PTI. “There was lot of smoke emanating from the top floors where the fire broke out. This caused panic among the people working there, which made the evacuation process a little difficult. But as per initial reports, the fire brigade has managed to evacuate everyone,” a municipal official said. The top three floors of the building are still on fire. The navy chopper has reached the site in Andheri and is currently circling the building to assess the situation. (With additional input from PTI)