Fire in Kolkata's AMRI hospital: 55 killed in Kolkata hospital fire

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KOLKATA: About 55 people were killed in a massive fire that broke out at the AMRI hospital in south Kolkata early Friday, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee said.

"Quick action will be taken against the hospital after proper inquiry," she added.

According to hospital sources, death toll may rise in the hospital fire incident in Kolkata. Nearly 160 patients were admitted in the Dhakuria building, where fire broke out in the wee hours.
Only 85 patients were rescued and removed to two other units of the same hospital located at Mukundapur and Saltlake. But the hospital authority could not confirm the condition of remaining 75 patients, they added.
According to police sources, the death toll have been ascertained at 54 in the blaze at AMRI Hospital in Dhakuria in south Kolkata.

Meanwhile, fire department lodged an FIR against AMRI hospital authorities. The fire brigade in its complaint said that the hospital authority did not have the adequate fire-preventive mechanism and emergency evacuation system in place.

Initial report hinted that most of the victims were admitted at orthopaedic ward and majority of them were immovable. Hundreds of relatives of the patients are waiting in front of the hospital. Till now, no official communication has been made by the hospital authority.

Locals and fire officials who started the rescue work alleged that most of the hospital staffs fled soon after fire broke out.

The report also confirmed that most of the patients are victim of suffocation as thick smoke covered the entire building.

In the wee hours smoke was first noticed billowing out from the basement of the hospital building. Smoke soon spread inside the hospital building which is centrally air conditioned. Fire brigade was informed but before they could reach flames engulfed the entire building as the basement was packed off inflammable articles.

Thick smoke covered the entire hospital causing suffocation of the patients. Local joined hand with police and fire brigade officials to rescue the patients.

Till now, the hospital authority admitted that bodies of 15 patients have been recovered but more feared trapped inside the fourth floor of the building. Fire fighters now managed to scale up in the floor and started working. State minister Firhad Hakim and Javed khan are at the spot. They also admitted that the toll may rise more.

Twenty-five fire engines are trying to combat the situation, while the fire that has been doused to a thick smoke is still billowing out of the multi-storeyed AMRI speciality hospital.

The fire broke out in the early hours at the basement where hospital chemicals and medical waste were stocked.

Fire service minister Javed Khan said that 80 per cent of the patients have been removed to other facilities.

Source

55

few minutes before I heard 20

R.I.P

Now its 68 bro

RIP

My sis wake me up from the bed telling me this news. R.I.P. to those who are dead. I'm feeling more sad considering the fact that my parents are two of the many visiting docs there. They went there and as per the latest news, death toll could increase a lot, and mat touch 100. :-(

What the heck yar. What value of life is this. People go into a medical facility to save their lifes, or to extend it. Here we have people succumbing. Seriously India, really needs to get rid of this: Chaltha hain Attitude. It frustrates me more and more day by day.

FIR = Forgetting IT is Required. This is all this useless piece of complaint holds in India today.

God be with the families of those that suffered, and bless their souls.

Very sad. Reminds me of the Uphaar tragedy.

Death toll = 73 (latest news)

Indian army were now involved for rescue operation....

Rest in Peace

Just goes to show there's no difference in a public and private entity in our country, all are equally b*******. Condolence to families of dead. RIP.

T

WTF !!

This will never change in INDIA. Life is so meaningless in INDIA.

The hospital didn't had any Fire Fighting equipments, nor trained people to stop the fire there.

Kolkata is too bad in Hospital Facilities

Most of the private hospital here in Kolkata makes illegal business with the patients family.They charges way higher than the official rates.Most the thing they don't disclose. If they asked for the high bills, they can't give proper reason behind that.What is happening i don't know, but this is not right.
Today City of joy turn into City of pain.

^^ Very true, but there is nothing called 'official rate' anywhere in India. :-(

It is now reported that the fire alarm was stopped so that employees can smoke inside. Is this a joke?

Skud said:
It is now reported that the fire alarm was stopped so that employees can smoke inside. Is this a joke?

Unlikely tbh.

Didi turns up, and announces the the facilities license is canceled. So pathetic.

Now what? "Compensation" announced, a few "candlelight vigils" held, and that's it. Out of the general public mind.

May their souls rest in peace.

Skud said:
It is now reported that the fire alarm was stopped so that employees can smoke inside. Is this a joke?

Apparently they switched off the fire alarms to prevent it from going off for false reasons.

Latest update is that a inquiry has been ordered. Just hope that the real culprits do not walk free due to some loopholes in the law.

S

Alipore magistrate today sent six AMRI directors to 10 days in police custody.Death toll rises to 92. :cry:

T

Skud said:
It is now reported that the fire alarm was stopped so that employees can smoke inside. Is this a joke?

Liverpool_fan said:
Unlikely tbh.

abhijit_reddevil said:
Apparently they switched off the fire alarms to prevent it from going off for false reasons.

Latest update is that a inquiry has been ordered. Just hope that the real culprits do not walk free due to some loopholes in the law.

Was there SMOKE DETECTORS installed in the first place ?? :shock:

I heard in the news story, they had removed them after the inspection by Fire Officials were over, when the building was given a LICENSE to operate as a health care facility.

In Kolkata, Smoke Detectors, Water Sprinklers, etc are available for RENT, which the building owners hire during inspection and return them back after getting the permission.

This practice should stop immediately. Officials should do a random check on every important public building every now and then, to ensure, this equipments are not removed and are working in proper condition.

You and I as a Citizen do have the right the inspect such equipment in the public buildings as well.

So, Guys keep your eyes open, the next time you visit a public building.

Some Tips:

When you go on a holiday and stay in a hotel or visit a Hospital, Railways Station / Metro Station / Airport / Malls.

You should be ready with some basic knowledge of the following:

1. You should know the nearest EXIT points from the building.

2. You should know what type of FIRE FIGHTING equipments are installed and where it is installed.

3. You should know how to operate a BASIC Fire Extinguisher ( Popular are ABC type )

4. Rescue others with yourself immediately from the building.

As I am a frequent Flyer I have noticed most of the passengers on an aircraft does not give attention to the instructions of the CREW, on safety measures.

However, at least one should know the BASIC.

1. How many EXITS are on the plane, and which is the nearest to his/her seat.

2. How to break open the DOORS of an aircraft.

3. Where the LIFE VEST is stored and how to use it.

Well, the smoke detectors were there, and they did work..in fact fire alarms went off too.
Sprinklers did not work because there was no fire inside the wards or the passages and the temp.did not rise even at 5 am to turn them on.
There were two fire exits in each floor mate, but when the lights were out the visibility was near zero, the thick smoke made matter worse.
One thing was never mentioned in any tv channel or news papers, neither the fire fighters nor the disaster management team had enough powerful light with them, the first respiratory mask appeared at 7AM.
How does the fire extinguisher help you in smoke?In fact the foam generated makes matter worse.
There was no fire in the wards, it was only smoke.

@Tech&ME: You have said:

When you go on a holiday and stay in a hotel or visit a Hospital, Railways Station / Metro Station / Airport / Malls.

You should be ready with some basic knowledge of the following:

Do you really expect patents can come out by themselves?
If they could they won't be there in the hospital.

T

d6bmg said:
@Tech&ME: You have said:

Do you really expect patents can come out by themselves?
If they could they won't be there in the hospital.

Are there ONLY patient in a hospital ?? :shock:

- What about the relatives who are allowed to stay ( usually one ) with the patients ?

- What about visiting relatives ?

- What about nurses / ward boy / doctors / staffs ?

@d6bmg You as a visitor can also face such situation :wink:

Tech&ME-Thanks for your tips buddy

@Tech&ME: didn't think about that scenario (actually I don't know the exact rules & regulations).

patients with highly serious condition/ under life support / icu treatment or the unconscious ones can't come out without professional care.

most these private hospitals are like these, they provide better treatment than govt hospitals in many cases but charge 5x/10x or more, take all the money but really care nothing about the patients.

My friends Aunt lost her life in Amri Hospital

She was admitted for broken legs and was supposed to discharge on the day the fire took place ....

^^
Shucks man. Sad.

Tenida said:
My friends Aunt lost her life in Amri Hospital She was admitted for broken legs and was supposed to discharge on the day the fire took place ....

Its very sad. :cry:

RIP the ones who have lost their lives due to such a gross negligence of security measures, and that too in a hospital.
No one knows how many more would loose their lives, before such measures are thoroughly put to effective use.

Feeling very sad, I pray for their Rest in peace to god, those who are responsible for this miserable incident should be punished & be behind the bars.

N

People tend to think of solution when there is a problem. There are so many buildings which flout rules. They pay some bribe and get away with the problem. It is the result of good people remaining silent. Ignorant people electing wrong candidate.