Navi Mumbai: Minor fire breaks out in Seawoods high-rise during thunderstorm

Yajur Bawa, whose flat on the 7th floor of Uttara, was struck by lightning

A bolt of lightning struck the Sai Proviso Uttara high-rise at Sector-50 in Seawoods, Navi Mumbai, on Thursday evening, causing a gas pipeline to burst into flames. While the residents managed to extinguish the fire immediately, their televisions and CCTV cameras were damaged in the incident. The bolt struck the seventh-floor flat of Yajur Bawa, who was celebrating his birthday. After spotting the fire, Bawa and his family quickly doused it using a fire extinguisher. The gas supply was stopped until Saturday as a safety measure.

Bawa told mid-day, "I was cutting the cake with my family and best friend around 5.57 pm when we saw a bright light followed by a loud sound, which scared us. I went inside the kitchen to get water but it was scorching hot. When we looked outside the window, we saw that there was a fire. We extinguished it immediately. We also called the Mahanagar Gas Limited helpline number and an official rushed and disconnected the gas supply."

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He added, "For around one minute everything we saw was blurry due to the bright lights. Luckily, we were all unharmed. My television and our society's CCTV cameras were damaged." Another resident, Padmaja Duvvuri, said, "This thunderstorm also affected my house and our television was also damaged. During the storm, my television sparked and went off. Luckily, no one was injured in our society. We immediately disconnected the society's power after the incident as a precaution."

The previous day, a lightning bolt had struck Neminath Society in Borivli West, which was captured on video by a neighbour. It caused damage to the television sets and CCTV cameras there as well.

Things to keep in mind during a thunderstorm

>> Don't take a bath or shower or wash dishes
>> Don't touch electronics
>> Take shelter in a safe place
>> Avoid hilly areas, mountains
>> Never lie flat on the ground
>> Never stand under a tree if you are in a forest
>> Stay away from lakes, ponds or the sea
>> Stay away from wires, power lines and windmills
>> Never stand in groups
>> Avoid open spaces and open vehicles

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Day in September the incident occurred