She was 29 on 29th: A birthday that turned into a tragedy
Khushbu died in the Mumbai fire celebrating her 29th birthday. The music was Jazz, the cake was chocolate and Khushbu was all set to ring in her 29th year on the rooftop restaurant of a posh Mumbai building.
But Khushbu, who turned 29 on the 29th, could not live to see another day as a fire broke out shortly after midnight, reducing the restaurant to a heap of smouldering bamboo and wood.
#KamalaMills #kamalamillsfire #birthdaygirl #LatestNews #india #mumbaifire #MumbaiBarBlaze #wakeupBmc pic.twitter.com/1aVCMrxYO3 — MyHelpingHandIndia™ (@My_HelpingHand) December 29, 2017
Fourteen people were killed, 11 of them women, most of them asphyxiating to death, officials said. Among the dead was the birthday girl who just had no clue that this destination would be memorable for her friends and family in all the wrong ways.
Khushbu's friends took to social media right before the fire broke and uploaded the video of a laughing Khushbu, dressed in a black top, cutting her cake.
The video, inscribed with a caption saying "Happiest birthday Khushi", shows a friend teasing Khushbu. This video is now on national media, underscoring the horror that followed just minutes later khushbu cut the cake.
The cheerful music would have been abruptly silenced, the celebrations giving way to panic as the guests ran for cover, the bathroom was no more the selfie ground but the place where girls wanted to hide and save themselves from the fire. Eventually they died due to suffocation.
A distraught Babulal Mehta, Khushbu's grandfather, blamed the "irresponsible" hotel management and the civic authorities after Khushbu died in the Mumbai fire.
"The hotel had put up a temporary structure supported by bamboo with the possibility of catching fire. There was no fire extinguishing facility either. It is the responsibility of the police and civic authorities to act against any violations," he told the media.
A popular restaurant listing appnow says 1 Above and Mojo's Bristo, where the fire spread to, are "temporarily unavailable" for serving patrons. -PTC News
