Malad firecracker shop explosion kills 16-year-old as slab collapses

A 16-year-old boy died after firecrackers exploded inside a shop in Malvani, in Mumbai's Malad area, on Monday night (9 November), bringing down the shop's slab and setting off a fire. The boy, identified as Shanwaz Niyaz Khan, had been reported missing after the blast and was later found inside the shop, officials said.

According to the BMC's Disaster Management Cell, the fire was reported at 9.56 pm at a ground-floor shop near Gate No. 8 on Abdul Hamid Marg. The shop stored firecrackers and electrical materials, and the blaze was confined to about 20 by 30 feet inside it. Firecrackers reportedly exploded during the fire and the slab of the shop collapsed. Mumbai Fire Brigade personnel, local police and ward staff rushed to the spot and put the fire out at 10.36 pm.

“The boy was subsequently found inside the shop after being reported missing,” a fire official said. He was taken to Shatabdi Hospital in Kandivali in a private ambulance. Dr Pooja, the hospital's Chief Medical Officer, said he had suffered 100 per cent burns and was declared brought dead, Free Press Journal reported.

The reports quoting officials did not say what first set off the fire. It comes after a Diwali in which the Mumbai Fire Brigade received 142 fire calls, 137 of them linked to firecrackers. On Monday, the BMC banned rockets and other aerial fireworks across the city until 25 November, as The Indian Idiot reported.