Slideshow ( 5 images )

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - A fire in India’s financial hub of Mumbai killed four people and injured 16 on Wednesday, authorities said, as the blaze spread quickly through a tall, residential building.

The fire started on the twelfth floor of a 17-storey building in the Parel suburb in Mumbai.

“Criminal offense will be declared ... The building will be labeled as unsafe and it will be evacuated. The fire sprinklers were not working at all,” said Mumbai’s chief fire officer, Prabhat Rahangdale.

A fire department official said efforts to douse the blaze were still going on, but the situation was under control.

The 16 injured people were taken to hospital and were in stable condition, a hospital official said.

It was third deadly fire in Mumbai in seven months.

Last December, fire swept through a rooftop restaurant in Mumbai, killing more than a dozen people, most of them women.