MUMBAI, Oct. 21 -- On Monday, 15-year-old Yash Khot succumbed to his burn injuries from a major fire in his Cuffe Parade tenement at Machhimar Nagar the previous night. In a festive mood on Sunday night, he and his brother Viraj (13), cousin Sangram Kurne (25) and neighbour Devendra Choudhary (30) had decided to spend the whole night playing cards and Housie. Three batteries from the family's EV vehicles were charging in the room as the youths busied themselves with their games. A couple of hours into their merry-making, a blast occurred in the room, tuning the cheery atmosphere into a nightmare. The Khot family ran an ice business, supplying restaurants, fisherfolk and juice stalls. "Earlier, they made the deliveries using a cycle," said Sakshi Nair, a neighbour. "It was only about two years ago that they bought EV bikes for their deliveries. They would charge the batteries overnight." Sakshi added that after the blast, there was a pungent smell in the air and liquid was dripping from the room's ceiling. An official from the Mumbai Fire Brigade said that the fire broke out at around 2.30 am but was reported only at 4.15. "We reached at 4.30, by which time most of the fire had been doused," he said. "We did an inspection, and prima facie it was acid from the battery that caused it. The actual cause, whether it was a short circuit or there was a problem with the batteries will only be known after the investigation," he added. On Sunday night, at around 2.30 am, the Khots' neighbours in Machhimar Nagar, were awakened from their sleep by a loud noise. A huge crowd gathered in the cramped lanes, where they saw that a fire had broken out in the Khots' residence. "People rushed to help but the steep and narrow ladder could only take one person at a time," said Priyal Singh, the Khots' neighbour for eight years. "It was impossible to carry the victims down because of the space constraint, so they were actually sent gliding down the ladder while others standing at the bottom caught them. They were then wrapped in blankets and carried through the lanes, as the ambulance could not reach the interior parts of the slum." The ambulance was rushed to the government-run St George's hospital on P D'Mello Road, where Yash was declared dead on arrival. Devendra, with 25 percent burns, was kept in the intensive care unit and is undergoing treatment at the hospital, while Viraj and Sangram, both with 15-20% burns, were in a stable condition, confirmed a resident medical officer (RMO) at the hospital. The hospital RMO said that all the burns were "majorly from the acid". "In Yash's case, the acid entered his mouth, which might have caused internal injuries," he said. "He also suffocated from the smoke." The fire was confined to the electric wiring, electric installations, three EV batteries and household articles in the room, yet it caused major damage. However, there was no harm to the neighbouring houses in the lane. At 5 pm, Yash's parents brought his body home, from where it was taken to Kolhapur to their family home for the last rites. Sunita, Yash's mother, was inconsolable. "My child was very helpful," she sobbed. "He helped out in the business and made deliveries. I had such high hopes for him."...