Kolkata, Dec 10 (ANI): A day after a fire claimed the lives of 89 people, including 85 patients and four AMRI Hospital staffers, a court in Kolkata placed the hospital's six directors in police custody till December 20.
Earlier, eyewitnesses recalled tales of the tragedy that claimed the lives of 89 people, including patients.
The fire ripped through the seven-storey AMRI Hospital when most of the victims were asleep.
Those who were injured and rescued were shifted to the SSKM Hospital where they were provided with proper medical treatment.
An eyewitness said when they reached the site of the mishap, they saw the patients shouting from the windows and asking for help as the thick smoke prevented a swift evacuation of patients.
"We were sleeping in the night, at 2:30 in the night; we heard some noise of the glasses. We saw that the patients were throwing glasses from the windows and were asking for help. When we reached the front gate, we saw smoke coming out from the building and we could not manage to go inside. So we went to the back gate and entered the hospital premises. A few locals used ladders to climb the building and tried to save the patients. We evacuated few of the patients," said Ganesh Shyam, an eyewitness.
The fire, suspected to have started in the electrical department in the basement of the hospital at about 3.30am quickly spread to the upper floors through the air-conditioning shafts.
Consequently, thick smoke engulfed the hospital and firefighters had to smash the windows to evacuate people. Fire fighters and rescue workers continued to take out bodies of patients who were choked to death after being trapped in the massive fire.
Earlier, AMRI hospital officials claimed that 90 patients were safely evacuated.
Another eyewitness said that the residents tried to enter the hospital to evacuate the trapped people, but the security men baton charged on the locals and prevented them for entering the premises.
People forcefully entered the building and saved a few of the patients.
"The locals evacuated a few of the patients. If the authorities would have allowed the public to enter the premises, many people could have been saved. When we reached the site, it was all smoky. And the bodies of the victims were being taken to another hospital. The bodies were all black. Many people, who had survived the accident, their face were fully burnt," said Seemant, another eyewitness.
Many relatives were a perturbed running from AMRI to other hospitals where the bodies were shifted for post-mortem.
This was the second fire tragedy in AMRI Hospital after 2008, which was triggered by an electric short circuit.
AMRI hospital is part of a prominent chain of clinics in the city. Shares in the conglomerate behind the AMRI chain, Emami Limited, fell 2.3 percent to 390.95 rupees after the mishap. (ANI)
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