*Ill-equipped Thane firemen rushed to their deaths* *[image: ?ui=2&view=att&th=1246abbd3ddce643&attid=0.1&disp=attd&realattid=ii_1246abbd3ddce643&zw] ***
* * *Thane: The six firemen who choked to death on Diwali night on Saturday when they were fighting a blaze in a building in Thane were ill-equipped and breached their own safety norms, a probe has found.* *The firemen got stuck in an elevator at the fourteen-storied Punarvasu Building apartments at 2330 hrs IST. The firefighters had put out a blaze at the building a few hours ago but had to rush back when they got a call that the fire was not out completely.* *They rushed into the lift which got stuck before it hit the fourteenth floor. With smoke still going through the building, the trapped firefighters suffocated to death inside the elevator. * *A preliminary investigation suggests the fire in the apartment was caused by a short circuit. Nandakumar Jantre, commissioner of the Thane Municipal Corporation, said the six men choked to death.* *Jantre told reporters a separate investigation would establish if the lift was safe, but experts are already pointing fingers at the unfortunate firemen. * *Investigators are still trying to find out why the firefighters took the elevator when it is not advised to do so in a blaze. The firefighters were equipped to rescue people only till the twelfth floor But still tried to reach the fourteenth floor.*
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