dhakuria AMRI:9/12/11

Kolkata: The death toll from the AMRI hospital has risen to 73, a figure that includes 3 hospital employees. The hospital first said that 70 percent of its patients had been rescued, but it transpires that 70 of its 160 patients have been killed in the incident. There is also worry that SSKM hospital which is receiving the bodies of those who were killed in the fire, may run out of space in its morgue.
Meanwhile Bangla television channel 24 ghonta, reports that most people have died from suffocation not burns. Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has cancelled the hospital’s licence as a law and order decision. It’s unclear if this incident would affect other AMRIs. She also called for the arrest of the owner of AMRI hospital, but he has gone missing.
The Vice President of AMRI Satyabrata Upadhyay, has said it will offer Rs 5 lakh as compensation for families of the dead. However victims are demanding further justice.
Bangla television channel Star Ananda said 65 bodies have been recovered from the AMRI hospital fire in Kolkata. Meanwhile there are scenes of grief outside the SSKM hospital, where 41 bodies have been brought. Banerjee has said that if needed, she is willing to provide government employment to relatives of those who were killed in the fire.
As the news of the death toll began sinking in, there was a flurry of response. Congress President Sonia Gandhi expressed her sadness, while Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Omar Abdullah tweeted, “Every time I see incidents like ”#AMRI” I’m convinced we really are a 3rd world nation with delusions of greatness.”
West Bengal’s Fire Minister Javed Khan earlier said that rescue operations at AMRI hospital had been completed. However the fire in the basement, where it originated is still not under control.

Local TV channels said 65 bodies have been recovered from the AMRI hospital fire in Kolkata. Bikas Das/AP

Meanwhile, crowds of people have gathered outside SSKM hospital where a large number of dead and injured from the AMRI hospital fire have been taken.
The fire brigade said it will file an FIR against AMRI as it was unable to provide them with a blueprint of the building plan, effectively hampering rescue operations. Fire department officials have said that hospital authorities were unable to even tell them where the emergency exits and stairs were. The hospital has also been accused of violating safety norms and using the basement as a godown. The fire started in the basement at around 3.30am. A number of fire fighters are also reportedly suffering from smoke inhalation.
AMRI hospital has said that there was no delay on their part in calling the fire brigade and that the fire was quickly brought under control, but thick smoke hampered rescue operations. However patients family members have disagreed.
All post mortems are scheduled to take place at SSKM. However it is feared that many more patients, doctors and nurses, including those in the intensive care units are still trapped inside the upper floors of the hospital. Bangla channels have reported that 12 patients transferred to other hospitals have died and that bodies have been found on the roof of the hospital as well. The fire brigade has said that although the fire was in the basement, the central AC system carried the smoke all through the building, causing asphyxiation.

Earlier angry relatives of patients threw stones and smashed panes at the hospital registry, as they were being given no information about patients conditions and whereabouts. Police had to lathi charge a group of people throwing bricks. The hospital admitted that it was unprepared and said that they do not have a helpline set up for the families of patients who may have been injured or killed in a fire that broke out in its premises early this morning. Meanwhile West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee who is at the site, has called for a camp to be set up to give information on the patients.
Banerjee has also called on Kolkatta’s SSKM hospital has to open an emergency unit to accommodate patients. All hospitals in Kolkata have been told that they have to admit any patient from AMRI. The West Bengal opposition leader has also arrived at AMRI.
Officials have said that patients who were on ventilators pose the greatest problems in terms of transferring them to other hospitals.
Fire Services Minister Javed Khan said the fire was now under control, but had not been extinguished yet. The hospital also did not have proper fire-fighting equipment, he said.
Some bodies were found in departments that firemen were able to access, he said.
The fire which was suspected to have originated in the electrical department in the basement of the centrally air-conditioned building swiftly spread, with the third floor and above being affected the most, fire brigade sources said.
The fire brigade dispatched 25 fire engines, which took time to reach the smoke-engulfed building because of narrow approach roads, Hakim said.
Firemen using ladders smashed window panes to release smoke and rescue patients trapped inside the ICU, ICCU, ITU and Critical Care units. The main power supply was also cut.