Mumbai: A massive fire broke out in Mumbai’s Marine Lines on Saturday. The blaze rupted on the top floor of a residential building, Marine Chambers. The building is located near Gol Masjid.

The fire broke out at around 12.30 pm on Saturday. After receiving information, several fire tenders reached the spot. Senior officials also rushed to the place where the blaze erupted.

Visuals of the fire also surfaced online. In the video, an envelope of black smoke could seen billowing out of the building. This led to panic among the locals.

A firefighting operation is currently underway.

The reason for the blaze is not yet known. There are no reports of any injuries.

Mumbai: Astronomers worldwide are closely monitoring Asteroid 2024 YR4, dubbed the “city killer,” since its discovery in December last year. The asteroid, estimated to be between 130 to 300 feet wide, about the size of a large office building, currently has a 1.5% (or 1 in 67) chance of striking Earth during a close flyby on December 22, 2032. Given that the impact probability exceeds the critical threshold of 1%, global space agencies, including NASA, are keeping a vigilant eye on its trajectory.

A simulation of the potential impact corridor of Asteroid 2024 YR4, based on NASA’s assessment and reported by Scientific American, suggests a path stretching from the eastern Pacific Ocean to South Asia. The corridor includes densely populated cities such as Bogotá (Colombia), Lagos (Nigeria), and Mumbai (India). There is also a very slim chance that the asteroid might hit the Moon.

If the asteroid collides with Earth, the consequences could be devastating. Whether it disintegrates in the atmosphere or impacts the surface, the immediate effects could resemble a hydrogen bomb explosion, potentially annihilating any city in its path.

However, scientists remain optimistic as the odds of a collision are decreasing daily. Bruce Betts, Chief Scientist at the Planetary Society, told the New York Post that the probability of impact might drop to zero within the next few months or years, similar to the trajectory of the asteroid Apophis. “At some point in the next months to few years, the probability will go to zero,” Betts said.

Efforts Made To Ascertain Exact Path Of Asteroid

Despite this optimism, astronomers are not taking any chances. NASA is collaborating with international counterparts, including the China National Space Administration (CNSA), Roscosmos (Russia) and the European Space Agency (ESA), to refine the asteroid’s predicted path.

A dedicated team of astronomers plans to use NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to obtain more precise estimates of the asteroid’s size and trajectory. Observations are scheduled for early March and again in early May, just before the asteroid moves out of sight until its orbit brings it back near Earth in 2028.

Burhanpur (MP): Twenty students were injured on Wednesday morning when their speeding school bus overturned near a riverbank in Nepanagar town of Madhya Pradesh, the police said.

About The Accident

The accident took place around 7.30 am near the Dharni river as the bus, apparently being driven at a very high speed, veered off the road and overturned, Nepanagar sub-divisional officer of police Nirbhay Singh Alwa told media from the spot.

Four of the students sustained hand or leg fractures and injuries to the head, he said, adding that the injured students were admitted to nearby government and private hospitals.

Some of the students told officials that they had asked the driver to slow down but he did not pay heed, Alwa said.

The incident took place 45 km from Burhanpur and more than 300 km from state capital Bhopal.

The bus was on its way to the Senior Secondary School at Nepanagar, a town famous for paper mills.

A case of rash and negligent driving was registered against the driver who fled from the spot, and the police were searching for him, the official said.