Home / Disasters and Accidents / Couple Defy Death, Escape Raging Apartment Fire by Climbing Down Pipes
Couple Defy Death, Escape Raging Apartment Fire by Climbing Down Pipes
24 Oct
Summary
- Couple, aged 58 and 51, survive deadly apartment fire
- Trapped on 7th floor, they break window and climb down pipes to safety
- Two of their eight cats perish in the blaze
On the morning of October 24th, 2025, a couple in their 50s found themselves trapped in their 7th-floor apartment as a fire broke out in their building in Mumbai. Woken by the smell of smoke, Sunil Khandpur, a Bollywood cameraman, and his wife Pooja were unable to escape through the smoke-filled corridors.
Faced with the growing flames, the couple resorted to a daring escape plan. They broke open the window grills and glass of their bathroom and carefully climbed down the water and drainage pipes in the duct, descending two floors to the 5th level. There, they waited for over an hour until firefighters arrived to bring them to safety.
Tragically, two of the eight cats the couple kept at home perished in the blaze. However, the remaining felines were successfully rescued by the firefighters. Senior station officer AJ Jadhav also suffered a ligament tear while saving a 10-year-old from another floor in the same incident.
