A gas leak triggered a fire at Hostel No. 6 inside the IIT Bombay campus in Powai on Thursday night, injuring five people, including two children. The injured were taken to hospitals in Mumbai, and all five were reported to be in stable condition.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s disaster management cell received information about the incident at around 10.24 pm. Civic officials said the fire was possibly caused by leakage from a gas cylinder, although the report did not indicate that a final determination had been made.
The injured were identified as Ansh Ahirwar, 12, Tahjib Aalam, 9, Ishwar Singh, 37, Shivkumar Singh, 34, and Anilkumar Yadav, 23. The incident occurred inside Hostel No. 6 on the IIT Bombay campus, a large institutional परिसर in Powai that includes student accommodation and other campus facilities.
The five injured people were initially taken to Rajawadi Hospital. Four of them—Ahirwar, Aalam, Shivkumar Singh and Anilkumar Yadav—were subsequently shifted to Kasturba Hospital for further treatment. Ishwar Singh remained admitted at Rajawadi Hospital.
An official cited in the report said, “It is possible that there was a leakage from the cylinder, which triggered a fire.” The statement indicated the likely sequence of events but did not establish the precise cause of the leak or provide details about the condition of the hostel room, the cylinder pipe or the fire response inside the building.
The incident was the second reported gas-leak-related fire in Mumbai on Thursday. Earlier in the day, a major fire broke out following a gas leak at a labour camp in Mulund. The two incidents brought separate questions about the safety of LPG cylinders, connecting pipes and accommodation environments where residents may include workers, students and families.
For residents of institutional hostels and labour settlements, gas-related emergencies can escalate quickly because people live and cook in shared or densely occupied spaces. The immediate response depends on early detection, access to exits, functioning fire-safety arrangements and the ability of civic and emergency services to reach the location. The report did not provide details about the extent of damage at Hostel No. 6 or whether the accommodation was evacuated.
The injured people remained under medical care, with their conditions described as stable. Further details about the fire, the source of the gas leak and any subsequent safety inspection were not available in the supplied report.
