Over
50 people are reported dead due to suffocation in a major fire that
broke out at AMRI Hospital in Dhakuria in south Kolkata in the wee hours
of today. All the dead are reported to be patients as the hospital
authorities fled from the spot.
According to police and witnesses, the fire is suspected to have originated in the electrical department in the basement of the AMRI hospital at around 3 am, which quickly spread to the first and second floors, trapping patients. |
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With
fire spreading to other parts of the hospital, the fire brigade and
police was called in around 4 am to start the relief and rescue
operation.
Around 25 fire engines were rushed to the mishap site to douse the fire, which has been fully contained as of now. A large number patients and hospital staff believed to be trapped inside the ICU, ICCU, ITU and Critical Care units of the hospital have evacuated successfully. However, efforts are still on to evacuate many others. Meanwhile, senior vice president of AMRI S Upadhay announced Rs 5 lakh as compensation for the next of kin of those who died, while those injured would be treated free at the hospital. The fire fighters are currently using hydraulic ladders to reach the inaccessible areas of the hospital to rescue the patients and office workers by smashing the glasses with gas cutters. Firemen have smashed the window panes to rescues patients from the billowing fire and smoke that engulfed the building. The firemen were also trying to locate oxygen cylinders stocked on the floors, as the fire could make them explode. Thick smoke has been hindering the operations by 25 fire tenders, reports say. Commissioner of Kolkata Police R K Pachnanda and West Bengal Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim and other top administrative officials are at the spot. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also reached the spot to take stock of the relief and rescue operation. She ordered an FIR against the hospital authorities. Hakim has confirmed that the firemen have managed to douse the fire completely. Personnel of the Disaster Management Group were also rushed to the hospital for assisting in the operations. 'The State government will take strong action against the AMRI group for the death of so many patients after completion of the rescue operations,' Public Health Engineering Minister Subrata Mukherjee told reporters after visiting the hospital. 'It was horrifying that the hospital authorities did not make any effort to rescue trapped patients,' Mukherjee said. 'Senior hospital authorities ran away after the fire broke out,' he said. The incident, however, led to chaos and confusion among those present inside the hospital at the time when the fire broke out. Families of patients later vandalised the reception counter amid complaints that no list of the dead and injured was provided to them. Hundreds of family members of patients smashed glass panes at the reception and threw away hospital registers. Meanwhile, the Fire Department has lodged an FIR against the management of AMRI hospital for violating safety norms and endangering the lives of several innocent civilians. |