Rickshaw catches fire in Govandi, women & child passengers suffer burn injuries

At least four persons, including a child, suffered burn injuries after the rickshaw they were travelling in caught fire in Govandi on Sunday night.

The incident took place on Sunday night opposite Hindustan Bank at Shivaji Nagar area of Govandi while the passengers were enroute to Lokmanya Tilak Terminus. All four passengers, three women and a child, belonged to the same family.

According to preliminary information, there was a leak in the CNG tank of the rickshaw and a spark triggered the fire while the rickshaw was in motion.

By the time the driver stopped the rickshaw and the women were able to get down, all passengers had suffered burn injuries.

The women and child were immediately rushed to Sion hospital for treatment. Of them, one woman is seriously injured, while the other two and the child are out of danger.

Fire department was alerted about the incident and the fire was doused within minutes.

The identities of the injured passengers is being determined. The family originally hails from Karnataka and was in the city for a family function.

Further details are awaited.

Update:

Contrary to what was mentioned earlier, there were a total of 9 passengers in the richshaw, including the driver.

The passengers were Sajida Qureshi (30), Tuba Qureshi (toddler), Khatija Qureshi (39), Sadaf (10), Apsa (5), Mohmmad Rehan (2), Firdous Qureshi (30) and Farhana Qureshi (17). They were travelling to travelling to LTT to board a train to Karnataka to attend Khatija’s sister’s wedding.

The driver, Shariff Abdul Shaikh (58), was their neighbour and agreed to ferry the passengers when requested. He sustained minor injuries and jumped off the rickshaw before the rest. Shaikh did not own the rickshaw.

Police are waiting for a report from the fire department to ascertain if the driver was at fault. Four passengers are in critical condition.