Mumbai, Mar 8 (TOI): The fire department, on Monday, said that it had completed 50% of its investigations into the fire that gutted Bandra's Garib Nagar on Friday night. Although it has zeroed in on a structure from where the fire emanated, it has not yet come to a conclusion on the cause of the fire.

"Our investigations have revealed that the fire started from a three-storey structure on the north side of a mosque. We need to probe further to know what exactly caused the fireAs of now, it is very difficult to come up with the reason of the fire," said chief fire officer Uday Tatkare. "We have completed 50% of the investigation and by next week, we will be ready with the preliminary report," he added.

On Sunday, a massive fight broke out between residents of Garib Nagar blaming one another for the fire. While one theory suggested that a drunken brawl between two brothers had caused the fire, another speculation was that there was arson involved. The police who are investigating the matter confirmed that there was a fight that night, but could not specify if the fight was the cause of the fire.

The fire started on Friday night and spread across the slum quickly. Within minutes, more than 500 shanties were destroyed. It took almost 24 hours for the cooling operations to conclude completely.

Meanwhile, residents who were lining up for compensation from the collectorate felt that there was a disparity in the way money was being distributed. "People living on rent are not being provided any compensation and this is. They think it is unfair because even they have lost their belongings," said a resident.