Mumbai fire: 29-year-old's life snuffed out an hour after she celebrated her birthday

A night of celebration at 1 Above turned tragic for four sets of friends and families. They were at the rooftop resto-bar to mark a birthday, to toast an NRI aunt on her visit home, for a big family get-together, and for a sisters’ night out. They numbered about 50 in all, almost half of whom were at the birthday party. Of the 14 who died in the fire, 10 belonged to these four groups.

Khushbu Bhansali, the birthday girl, died less than an hour of turning 29. Three years ago, she and one of her closest friends, Kinjal Mehta (28), both from Girgaum, had their weddings the same day. This wasn’t the only happy coincidence in their parallel lives: The names of their husbands (Jayesh) were the same. But the last conjunction of their circumstances was fatal. Khushbu, a relative said, had escaped the fire, but went back onto the burning terrace to rescue Kinjal. Neither was seen alive again.




Two brothers, Dhairya and Vishwa Lalani (26 and 23), who had lived in the US, were with eight relatives and friends to celebrate their aunt Bharti Doshi’s visit, also from the US. Nine of them exited, but the brothers went back when they couldn’t spot another aunt, Pramila (70). None of them survived, but not before they had helped around a dozen people escape. Vishwa called a friend to say he wasn’t going to make it.

The dead include three women from a big Gujarati family. Manisha Shah (49; Jacob’s Circle), Parul Lakdawala (49; Kemp’s Corner) and Shefali Doshi (46; Mahalaxmi) were at the resto-bar with their husbands, children and another couple. In the melee after the fire, they took refuge in the bathroom, only to suffocate; their husbands and the other couple had taken the stairs believing they were ahead of them.

Another big family devastated comprised seven sisters on a night out. Kavita Dharani (36), a designer, Tejal Gandhi (37), a homemaker—both from Ghatkopar—didn’t make it out alive. Tejal had celebrated her wedding anniversary a day earlier.