Kolkata: 73 killed in hospital fire; many suffocated; fire safety laws ignored
At least 73 people - most of them patients - have died in this morning's huge fire at AMRI hospital in Kolkata. There were 160 people inside the hospital when the fire began. Confronted with the seven-storey hospital's apparent violation of fire safety laws, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee described the negligence as "an unforgivable crime" and vowed "the harshest punishment possible" for those found responsible. The license of the privately-owned hospital has been cancelled.
Dead bodies are being moved to the SSKM Hospital; families have been asked to identify their relatives before post-mortems are conducted. Through the morning, firemen were seen using ropes and ladders to enter the different floors of the hospital; some windows had to be smashed. The fire began shortly after 2 am in the basement, where highly inflammable material was allegedly stored. The first fire engine arrived two hours later at 5.30 this morning, say furious eyewitnesses. The road leading to the hospital is narrow and congested. Inside the hospital, there was chaos- the building was engulfed in smoke, many patients suffocated. "Every door is locked, every window is locked," said a resident who tried to help. "We cannot bring any patient outside," he said, his anger visible.
Dead bodies are being moved to the SSKM Hospital; families have been asked to identify their relatives before post-mortems are conducted. Through the morning, firemen were seen using ropes and ladders to enter the different floors of the hospital; some windows had to be smashed. The fire began shortly after 2 am in the basement, where highly inflammable material was allegedly stored. The first fire engine arrived two hours later at 5.30 this morning, say furious eyewitnesses. The road leading to the hospital is narrow and congested. Inside the hospital, there was chaos- the building was engulfed in smoke, many patients suffocated. "Every door is locked, every window is locked," said a resident who tried to help. "We cannot bring any patient outside," he said, his anger visible.
