Paul Valthaty’s sister and her family had come down from United Kingdom for 15 days to see her ailing mother.
Mumbai: Former Punjab Kings and Rajasthan Royals cricketer Paul Valthaty lost his sister and nephew in a deadly fire in Borivali West on Monday. The incident happened when a fire from the first-floor kitchen spread to the fourth floor in Veena Santoor CHS. While the residents of the first floor survived, Valthaty’s sister Glory (43) and her six-year-old son Joshua, staying on the fourth floor, were charred to death.
Besides the casualties, house helps Lakshmi Bura (40) and Rajeshwari Bhartare (24) and Ranjan Shah (76) are battling for their lives in hospital. It is reported that Bhartare sustained nearly 100 per cent burns. A fireman was also injured.
According to Glory’s brother-in-law, Gladston Behara, Glory lives in the United Kingdom and had come to Mumbai for 15 days with his husband Noel and two children to see her ailing mother. Glory practiced at a Mumbai hospital before moving to Scotland after marrigae.
“I too had come down from Kolkata to see Glory,” Behara told Hindustan Times. “When I got down from the rickshaw, I saw fire erupting from the building. Glory was at home with Noel, Joshua and her daughter.
“Paul was to drop his children to school, and went downstairs along with his other sister Ruth, nephew and Glory’s elder daughter. They heard an explosion by the time they reached downstairs,” he added.
Meanwhile, according to senior fire official PR Parulekar, the fire brigade received a call at 12:30 PM. However, nearby residents said the fire broke out at 11:30 AM. “In that one hour, the blaze took an ugly turn. If we had been informed earlier, it could have been controlled. The first-floor kitchen was in flames,” Parulekar told media.
“Someone called the residents of Flat No 421 (house of Valthaty) to inform them about the fire and they panicked. They opened the door and tried to go to upper floors and then downwards. They were trapped because they tried to escape,” he added.
Valthaty, who made his IPL debut in 2009, played 23 matches in total till 2013 and scored 505 runs. The 2011 season at Punjab Kings was the highlight of Valthaty’s IPL career as he scored 463 runs with two fifties and a hundred. His highest score of 120 not out came against Chennai Super Kings.