“The entire rooftop was engulfed in flames before anybody had a chance to react,” Sulbha K.G. Arora, who was at one of the restaurants, told NDTV, an Indian news channel. “It was like a stampede situation. People were running all over me.”

By the time firefighters gained control of the blaze in the early morning hours on Friday, three men and eleven women had died from suffocation, a hospital official said, including a 28-year-old woman celebrating her birthday. Many of the bodies were found near a bathroom where some of the women had fled. Witnesses said that the restaurants lacked fire extinguishers, and that 1 Above had an awning made of bamboo that accelerated the fire’s spread.

The injured were brought to King Edward Memorial Hospital and Sion Hospital in Mumbai. Dr. Avinash Supe of King Edward Memorial Hospital said by telephone that patients were being treated for burn injuries, but that their conditions had stabilized.

Officials said it was unclear what had caused the blaze. Criminal complaints of culpable homicide have been filed against the owner and restaurant manager of 1 Above for failing to provide adequate emergency exits and evacuation instructions. Virendra Mishra, deputy commissioner of police in Mumbai, said by telephone that the police have been unable to locate the men.