Huge fire at Mumbai restaurant kills at least 14

Most of the victims were young women attending a birthday party

Fire rages at a multi-storey building housing restaurants and offices at the Kamala Mills compound in Mumbai, India on December 29, 2017. Poonam Burde via Reuters

Firefighters at the scene of a deadly blaze at the Kamala Mills compound in Mumbai, India on December 29, 2017. At least 14 people were killed and many more injured in the late-night fire. AP Photo

Friends of victims wait at a hospital after a fire that killed and injured several people in Mumbai on December 28, 2017. Most of those who died were young women attending a birthday party. Danish Siddiqui / Reuters

Firefighters carry a victim on a stretcher after a fire at a restaurant in Mumbai, India's financial capital, on December 29, 2017. Reuters

An injured person receives treatment after a fire at a restaurant in Mumbai on December 29, 2017. AP Photo

A rooftop restaurant was gutted in the fire at a building in the Kamala Mills compound in Mumbai, India on December 29, 2017. Reuters

An aerial view of the building's roof after the fire was extinguished. Indranil Mukherjee / AFP

The rooftop restaurant gutted by a fire that broke out at the Kamala Mills compound in Mumbai on December 28, 2017. Danish Siddiqui / Reuters

A firefighter goes through the debris of the restaurant. Danish Siddiqui / Reuters

The rooftop restaurant was hosting a birthday party when the fire broke out. Indranil Mukherjee / AFP

At least 14 people were killed when a huge blaze tore through a popular restaurant in Mumbai early on Friday.

Most of the victims were young women who were attending a birthday party on the rooftop when the fire broke out. They  died of asphyxiation, apparently as they tried to flee the burning building, doctors said.

The restaurant was in the city's Kamala Mills compound, which also houses hotels and offices. Local media reported that a false ceiling had collapsed in the four-storey building, trapping people inside as they tried to escape.

The fire was extinguished in the early hours of Friday but the rooftop where the party was held had been gutted, with charred ice buckets and ashtrays strewn around.

"Fourteen people have succumbed to their injuries and remaining victims have been discharged from the KEM hospital. Most of the deaths were due to asphyxiation," said Avinash Supe, dean of the KEM hospital.

Eleven of the victims were female partygoers, according to authorities.

One woman who said she was in the building at the time told of the desperate scenes as people tried to escape.

"There was a stampede and someone pushed me," Sulbha Arora said on Twitter.

"People were running over me even as the ceiling above me was collapsing in flames. Still don't know how I got out alive. Some powers were definitely protecting me."

Police said they were investigating the cause of the fire, and had filed a preliminary case against the restaurant's owners.

Accidental fires are common across India because of poor safety standards and lax enforcement of existing regulations.

A fire swept through a sweet shop in Mumbai earlier this month, sparking a building collapse which killed 12 sleeping workers.

In September, a gas cylinder exploded in an unfinished building in the city, killing six people.

Such disasters are particularly common in Mumbai, where millions live in cramped, dilapidated properties because of high rental prices. Activists say builders and landlords often cut corners on safety to save costs.

Television footage of the latest disaster showed fire engines and emergency teams rushing to the scene as the building was being consumed by flames and dark plumes of smoke rose into the night sky.

Firefighter Sanjay Hiwarle told reporters the blaze was brought under control during the night and a "cooling operation" was under way.

Several media organisations also use the building and at least three national news channels were affected by the fire, including Times network's Times Now, Mirror Now and ET Now channels.

India's prime minister Narendra Modi tweeted that he was "anguished by the fire in Mumbai".

"My thoughts are with the bereaved families in this hour of grief. I pray that those injured recover quickly," he said.