Mumbai (PTI): A fire broke out at a garments showroom on the ground floor of a residential building in the Peddar Road area of south Mumbai on Monday morning, civic officials said.

While there were no reports of injuries in the blaze, eight people and some pets were rescued from the six-storey building, they said.

Officials said the fire erupted around 6:38 am at the showroom on the ground floor of the Shukhshanti building.

The fire brigade rescued eight people from the first floor and five animals from the fourth floor of the building.

A civic official said the blaze was confined to the wiring, electrical installations, and the stock of clothes in the showroom, and the establishment was engulfed in smoke.

He said eight fire engines and other fire brigade vehicles were at the scene.

The official said the blaze was covered from all sides around 8:15 am, and the fire-fighting operations were underway.

The police, civic authorities, and other agencies were mobilised, he said, adding that the cause of the blaze is yet to be ascertained.

As the building is on the busy Peddar Road, the south-bound traffic from the Mahalaxmi Temple junction to the Kemps Corner flyover had slowed down, the traffic police informed in a post on X.

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Tumakuru (PTI): Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara on Saturday said his recent remarks on the demolition of properties linked to those involved in narcotics trade were "misunderstood and misinterpreted".

His clarification follows remarks made two days ago on the government's uncompromising crackdown on the drug menace, including action against properties linked to foreign nationals allegedly involved in drug trafficking.

"It is unfortunate. It is taken in the wrong sense. I didn't mean that tomorrow itself I am going to send bulldozers and demolish the houses. That was not my intention. It was wrongly taken," he told reporters here.

Responding to Congress MLC K Abdul Jabbar's question in the legislative council on the growing drug menace in Bengaluru, Davangere and coastal districts, the minister on Thursday detailed the extensive enforcement measures initiated since the Congress government assumed office.

Pointing to the involvement of some foreign nationals, the minister had said, "Many foreign students from African countries have come to Karnataka. They are into the drug business. We catch them and register cases against them, but they want the case to be registered because once the case is registered, we cannot deport them."

"We have gone to the extent of demolishing the rented building where they stay," he had said.