A tragic fire in a densely populated slum pocket of Mumbai's Goregaon (West) claimed the lives of three members of a family in the early hours of Saturday. The victims, a father and his two children, were asleep when the blaze erupted, leaving neighbors helpless as they heard desperate cries for help.
Neighbors' Desperate Attempts to Rescue
The fire broke out around 3:06 am on January 10, 2026, inside a ground-plus-one storey chawl located on Rajaram Lane in Bhagat Singh Nagar. According to eyewitness accounts, neighbors were first alerted by screams. Waseem Pathan, a local resident who was awake for early morning prayers, described the harrowing sequence of events.
"Initially, we heard shouts and thought it was a fight," Pathan recounted. "Soon, the screams turned to 'bachao, bachao' (help, help). We rushed out and saw the fire. We tried to break down the door, but it was completely jammed because of the intense heat and flames."
Pathan and others forced the door open after a struggle, but were met with a wall of fire that prevented entry. They immediately began a bucket chain to douse the flames, managing to control the fire before the Mumbai Fire Brigade (MFB) could reach the narrow lanes of the slum.
A Family Shattered by Tragedy
The deceased were identified as Sanjog Pawaskar, 48, and his children, Harshada, 19, and Kushal, 12. Sanjog was sleeping on the first floor of the chawl, while his children were asleep on the ground floor, adjacent to the refrigerator where the fire is believed to have originated.
The family's wife and mother, along with a younger daughter, survived the incident as they were not at home. Sanjog's wife was working a night shift, and the younger daughter was staying at a friend's house to study for her upcoming board exams.
Neighbors revealed that the Pawaskar family had been living in the Bhagat Singh Nagar slum for over two decades. Sanjog worked as a driver. The three victims were pulled from the charred remains of their home and taken to the Trauma Care Hospital, where they were declared dead on arrival due to severe burn injuries.
Aftermath and Official Response
Following the rescue operation, which involved the MFB cutting off the electricity supply, the bodies were sent for post-mortem. The funerals were conducted on Saturday afternoon.
Officials from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) confirmed that the fire was confined to the Pawaskar household and did not spread to other homes in the congested area. The incident highlights the persistent fire risks in Mumbai's informal settlements, where narrow access lanes can impede emergency response.
This fire adds to a series of recent blazes in the city, underscoring ongoing concerns about public safety and infrastructure in densely populated urban neighborhoods.
