Fire breaks out in Mumbai high-rise; 4 people suffer from suffocation
Mumbai (PTI): A fire broke out in a 29-floor residential building in Mumbai on Wednesday, following which four people suffered from suffocation and were hospitalised, officials said.
The blaze erupted at around 1.45 am in a common passage on the 24th floor of Shivshakti building in Lokhandwala complex in suburban Andheri and caused thick smoke, they said.
At least four fire engines along with five jumbo tankers and other fire brigade vehicles were sent to the spot and the blaze was doused by 5.15 am, a fire brigade official said.
The fire confined to electric cables in a common passage on the 24th floor, a civic official said, adding that heavy smoke also spread to the building's 23rd floor.
Four people, including two senior citizens, suffered from suffocation and were rushed to the nearby Kokilaben Hospital where they were undergoing treatment, the official said.
One of them, aged 85, were admitted in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), officials said.
The cause of the fire was not yet ascertained, they added.
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China opens world's 'longest' expressway tunnel in Xinjiang
Beijing (PTI): China on Friday opened to traffic a 22.13-km-long tunnel, which it claimed to be the "world's longest", in Xinjiang province.
The Tianshan Shengli tunnel, which traverses through the central Tianshan Mountains in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, has reduced a treacherous mountain journey of several hours to about 20 minutes, official media reported.
According to Song Hailiang, chairman of China Communications Construction Company, the tunnel has “set two world records”.
“It is the longest expressway tunnel in the world and has the deepest vertical shaft for a highway tunnel,” Song said.
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The tunnel is a key part of the G0711 Urumqi-Yuli Expressway, which also became operational on Friday, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
The expressway serves as a major transport artery linking city clusters in northern and southern Xinjiang.
Stretching 2,500 km, the Tianshan Mountains span central Xinjiang, separating the provincial capital Urumqi, the largest city in the north, from Korla, the largest city in the south.
With the opening of the expressway, travel time between Urumqi and Korla has been reduced from around seven hours to about three hours, the report said.
The expressway, constructed over five years, is 324.7-km-long with a total investment of 46.7 billion yuan (about USD 6.63 billion).
