Over 85 killed in Kolkata hospital fire, 6 directors arrested

 

More than 85 patients in Kolkata's well known AMRI hospital were killed along with three staffers when a blaze started in the basement of the annexe building early Friday and toxic fumes quickly spread to the other floors, trapping hundreds of people. Updates:
Six AMRI directors arrested, hospital licence cancelled
Noted industrialists S.K. Todi and R.S. Goenka and four other directors of the city's AMRI hospital, where a fire broke out claiming 88 lives Friday, were arrested and booked for several non-bailable offences, police said. The hospital's licence was also cancelled, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced.
'Six directors of the AMRI hospital have been arrested today in connection with the fire tragedy. Those arrested include S.K. Todi, R.S. Goenka and Ravi Todi. They have been bookes for several non-bailable offences, including culpable homicide not amounting to murder,' Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Damayanti Sen. More on this story
President grieves over Kolkata hospital fire deaths
President Pratibha Patil expressed her grief and sorrow over the loss of lives in the fire at AMRI Hospital in Kolkata Friday.
In her message to the governor of West Bengal, Patil said she is saddened to know about the massive fire at AMRI Hospital in which more than 80 people, mostly patients, were killed.
A blaze started in the basement of the annexe building early Friday and toxic fumes quickly spread to the other floors, trapping hundreds of people.
The president also conveyed her condolences to the families of the deceased and wished speedy recovery to the injured.
'I know this is not him,' murmured a young wife each time she removed the white satin covering the face of those killed in Kolkata's AMRI Hospital fire. The woman came out the SSKM hospital morgue with a wry smile, saying 'Maybe he is alive' but her hopes were soon dashed.
An ambulance carrying three more dead bodies halted near the morgue gate and one of the three was that of her husband. She stared blankly at the body before breaking down inconsolably.
The steady flow of bodies continued as ambulances carrying them entered the SSKM hospital one by one and after autopsy and identification, the bodies were handed over to their relatives.
'Don't worry, nothing will happen, they said'
The families of patients and witnesses Friday recounted harrowing tales of a fire at AMRI Hospital that claimed over 90 lives, saying the authorities neither woke up to the danger on time nor allowed locals to help rescue trapped victims.
'We were sleeping. Then we heard someone screaming that there was a fire,' said a woman who was inside the hospital.
Some said the the hospital authorities kept giving false assurances.
'We were told 'don't worry, nothing will happen',' said a man quoting the hospital staff.
No radiation leak at fire-hit Kolkata hospital
Amid fears of radiation hazard from the equipment used in the cancer department at AMRI hospital after a major fire, a team of National Disaster Response Force Friday visited the oncology wing and said later there was no radiation leak.
Wearing gas masks and carrying sophisticated anti-radiation equipment, the NDRF team went to the hospital but said there was no leakage.
'There is no excess radiation and no leakage,' said the team commander Mukesh Kumar Verma.
PM mourns deaths in Kolkata fire, sanctions relief
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Friday expressed grief at the deaths of 73 people, mostly patients, in a fire in Kolkata's AMRI Hospital.
The prime minister also sanctioned ex-gratia grant of Rs.200,000 each to the families of those killed and Rs.50,000 to each of the injured.
'The prime minister expresses shock and anguish over the loss of lives in the hospital fire in Kolkata. He conveys his condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in the tragedy,' said a statement issued by his office.
Hospital staff abandon patients to fire
Medical staff at an Indian hospital abandoned their patients and fled for safety early Friday as fire and smoke poured through the building, leaving 65 people dead, many from smoke inhalation, government officials said.
As rescuers scrambled to evacuate survivors, police filed a case against the hospital in the eastern city of Kolkata for violating safety procedures and top government officials vowed to hold the hospital accountable for the tragedy.
"It's a very serious offense, and we will take the strongest action," Mamata Banerjee, chief minister of the state of West Bengal, said at the scene.
More Kolkata like fires waiting to happen
The fire in the Kolkata hospital that killed at least 60 people was 'absolutely preventable', Neelam Krishnamurthy, who lost two children in the 1997 Delhi Uphaar cinema blaze, said , while blaming the 'lackadaisical' government and judiciary.
'This incident was absolutely preventable. It is very unfortunate that the government departments have once aging failed to function and the common man is suffering,' Krishnamurthy, convenor of the Association of Victims of Uphaar Tragedy (AVUT), said.
'The government and judiciary have a lackadaisical attitude regarding this issue. If something is not done, I am sorry to say but many more similar tragedies will take place,' she added.
Banerjee came to the narrow lane leading to the hospital - co-founded by private firms along with the West Bengal government - around 9.45 a.m., and immediately a stream of people as also mediapersons rushed towards her.Police personnel, at their wits end after having spent hours controlling the mob, which was venting its ire at the hospital authorities, tried to put up a cordon around the chief minister.
But as the surging crowd became uncontrollable, leading to a near stamplede, the lawkeepers wielding the baton, which worsened the situation. Read on
Hospital fire kills at least 73 Kolkata
A fire ripped through a seven-storey hospital in Kolkata before dawn on Friday, killing at least 73 people, most of them patients who were asleep when the blaze started.
Thick smoke engulfed the hospital and firefighters smashed windows to evacuate people down ladders to safety from upper floors. Other patients were rolled out on stretchers.
The tragedy unfolded over many hours as patients were suffocated to death, some trapped in their beds, others dying in their sleep, too infirm to escape the smoke. The lucky few were brought down the side of the four-storey glass facade building, only six years old, using ropes and ladders as thousands looked on in horror.
The fire brigade allegedly reached late and were initially ill-equipped - coming without masks with only rickety manual lifts - to deal with the disaster.
While hospital authorities said 70 patients and three staffers had been killed, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had confirmed 61 deaths earlier in the day. 
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