On Saturday evening, the six-member Shah family on the third floor of Jethabhai Building in Girgaon invited friends and family to meet the oldest member of the house—82-year-old Nalini Shah—who had just returned home after her treatment at Saifee Hospital. Between 9.15 pm and 9.45 pm, not long after all the guests had left, the family tragically lost Nalini and her 60-year-old son, Hiren due to the fire in the ground-plus-three-storey structure.

Hiren asked others in the house to run out and said he would escape with his bedridden mother. He passed away in an attempt to save her,” said Jayendra Shah, Hiren’s friend who lives an adjacent building. Their charred bodies were recovered during rescue operations and later sent to J J hospital for a post-mortem.