A fire broke out in a 12-storey residential building in Kurla area of Mumbai shortly after midnight on Saturday, following which the fire brigade rescued around 60 people living there, an official said.

The incident occurred around 12.10 am in the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) building number 7 located opposite Kohinoor Hospital, he said, adding that 39 of the rescued persons were admitted to hospitals after they complained of suffocation.

"The blaze erupted soon after midnight. On being alerted about it, a team of fire brigade personnel along with four water engines, as many jumbo tankers and other equipment reached the spot and started the firefighting operation," a fire brigade official said.

The fire started from the ground floor of the 12-storey building and was confined to the electric wiring and scrap material kept there. It was a 'level one' (minor) fire. As the flames moved upwards and the building was engulfed in smoke, it triggered panic among the residents, the official said.

The fire brigade personnel cut off the electricity supply and extinguished the fire by around 1.45 am, he said.

"Fifty to sixty residents stranded on different floors of the building were rescued by the fire brigade staff using the staircase. Due to the smoke, 39 of the rescued persons complained of suffocation, of whom 35 were admitted to the civic-run Rajawadi Hospital, while four others were taken to Kohinoor Hospital," he said.

Their condition is stable, he added.

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