Mumbai: A massive fire at a pub hosting a birthday party killed 14 people, most of them women, and injured 21, shortly after midnight in a posh Mumbai locality, police said on Friday.

Most of the victims, who included 11 women, died of asphyxiation in the tragedy in Lower Parel area, police said. Some reports said among those dead was the woman who was celebrating her birthday but this could not be independently confirmed.

The fire broke out after 12.30am at One Above Pub, located on the third floor of the four-storey Trade House Building in Kamala Mills compound on Senapati Bapat Marg, a commercial hub of the city, a police official said.

The massive blaze engulfed the entire building in about 30 minutes and took several hours to be put out. The cause of the fire is not known.