Death toll in hosp fire rises to 8, Fadnavis orders probe

Mumbai: The death toll in the Employees State Insurance Scheme (ESIS) Kamgar Hospital at Marol in suburban Andheri’s fire incident rose to eight, including a six-month-old baby girl. Six persons were killed on Monday, while two died on Tuesday morning and 177 suffered injuries including three firemen.

The injured persons are undergoing treatment at civic-run Cooper Hospital, B. Thackeray Hospital (Trauma), Jogeshwari, Holy Spirit Hospital, Andheri (East), Hiranandani Hospital, Powai, Siddharth Hospital, Goregaon, Shatabdi Hospital, Kandivali and Seven Hills Hospital, Andheri (East).

The deceased are identified as Aasaram Pujaram (68), Manisha Kangutkar (65), Tirthraj Gupta (74), Chandrakant Mhatre (69), Babu Khan (54).

ESIS Hospital medical superintendent Dr Rakesh Sharma said, “Everything happened suddenly. A hospital staffer injured his arm when he jumped out of the building to save his life.”

Ramzan Ali Siddique (42) was admitted to ESIS hospital before the fire incident. He was later shifted to Cooper Hospital, as he felt suffocated due to inhaling smoke. His wife Zainab said, “I had stepped down to get some biscuits. On returning, I witnessed that many people had gathered outside and the building is in blaze. A few people were also jumping outside windows to save themselves.”

She added, “I tried my best to go inside the hospital to rescue my husband but I wasn’t allowed to do so. Luckily my husband is safe and is recovering.”

Sushmita Ashok Sutar (15), a teenager from Boisar, is crying for help, as she is still unable to trace her elder sister, Anusha (24) who was admitted to ESIS.

Nearly 375 people, including patients and visitors, were in the five-floor hospital during visiting hour when fire broke out on its fourth floor around 4.03 pm on Monday, according to a fire brigade official.

Milind Ogle, the deputy chief fire officer of MIDC area, said the hospital doesn’t have the final no-objection certificate for fire compliance. “The hospital applied for the final NOC a fortnight ago for its under-construction building adjacent to the old structure that caught fire,” he said.

“Then our team visited the hospital to inspect the conditions for fire compliance, it found certain shortcomings in the installations and it was communicated to the hospital administration too,” Mr Ogle added.

While reviewing fire compliance norms for the new building, the team also noticed some lacunae in the old hospital building, he said. “So we refused to issue the full and final fire NOC to the old building also,” He said.

A fire official said the blaze appeared to have erupted after a short-circuit near the rubber rolls stored on the ground floor. “The rubber rolls are combustible material and they might have caught fire after the short-circuit on the ground floor. The smoke then covered the upper floors through an open fire duct,” he said. The exact cause would be known after an inquiry into the incident, he added.

Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday ordered an inquiry into the fire at the ESIS Hospital. “CM spoke to PM @narendramodi and Union minister @JPNadda on it. Mr Fadnavis expressed grief over loss of lives and prayed for speedy recovery of the injured and assured that all required assistance will be given,” the chief minister’s office tweeted.

Union labour minister Santosh Gangwar on Monday announced Rs 10 lakh each as compensation for the kin of those who died in the massive fire. “Union minister of state (independent cha-rge) for labour & employment, Santosh Kumar Gangwar, announced compensation of Rs 10 lakh each to the families of those who lost their lives in the accident, Rs 2 lakh each for those who have serious injuries and Rs 1 lakh each for those with minor injuries,” a labour ministry statement said.