A contract labourer was killed and another person sustained burn wounds, when a fire broke out on board an under-construction warship "Vishakapatnam" at Mazagaon Dock Ship Builders Limited (MDL) here on Friday evening.
The fire broke out on board "Vishakapatam" (Yard no12704) at around 4 pm, during grinding operations in a tank.
The MDL officials described the fire as "minor". The blaze was brought under control at around 7 pm.
"One contractor succumbed possibly due to asphyxia and burn wounds, while another suffered minor burns," a senior MDL official said.
The MDL has, meanwhile, constituted a committee to go into the cause and circumstances leading to the fire.
Sources at the State-run J J Hospital identified deceased contract labourer as one Bajendra Kumar (23) who, the doctors there said, was brought dead. Another person is being treated for burn wounds at the same hospital.
Initial reports had said that the fire was confined to the second and third deck of the ship.
Soon after it received first call at around 5.44 pm, the Mumbai Fire Brigade rushed eight fire engines, seven jambo water tankers and one rescue van to the spot. The fire Brigade personnel battled with the blaze for nearly three hours before they brought it under control.
Shortly after the fire broke, a thick cloud of smoke engulfed the MDL premises, making the fire extinushing operation difficult for the blaze fighters.
"Tremendous heat and smoke is being encountered while fire fighting still able to stop spread of fire by Mumbai fire brigade firemen using breathing apparatus," an eyewitness said.
The fire Brigade personnel recovered the body of the deceased contract worker from the lower deck of the ship.
Navy submarine fire team and Mazgoan Fire Fighting team were present but on standby at the mishap site.