At least 89 persons were killed in a fire that ravaged a hospital here
in the early hours of Friday. Nearly all the victims choked to death on
the upper floors, even as the toxic smoke engulfed the building.
The fire broke out in the seven-storey building of AMRI Hospital at
Dhakuria about 3 a.m. Within a short time, the smoke ripped through to
the top, threatening the lives of the 164 in-patients.
The relatives of the patients seethed with anger. Some broke down in
tears as news of the death of their loved ones came in, while the rest
frantically searched for their kin, scanning the list of the deceased.
There were fears that the incident may take a more serious turn as the
hospital authorities informed the fire fighters of the presence of a
biomedical department in the basement, where radioactive materials for
treatment of cancer patients were stored.
Six directors of the hospital have been arrested. The hospital will be
sealed once the rescue operations are over, said Chief Minster Mamata
Banerjee, who visited the hospital as well as the morgue at the
state-run SSKM Hospital, where the bodies were taken.
Amid frantic cries for help, youth from the nearby locality joined in
the rescue, helping to bring out those still alive, long before the fire
fighters reached the spot. The death toll would have been less had the
hospital authorities allowed them in to evacuate the patients earlier,
the locals claimed.
Most of the victims died of suffocation. The building is centrally air
conditioned, and there was no ventilation channel for the smoke to come
out
