‘She died by the time I reached’
Some of the patients were critical while some were about to be discharged, but destiny had something else in store for them. The ill-fated Friday turned AMRI Hospital into a tinderbox. By 7 am, the AMRI Hospital witnessed heart-wrenching scenes. The premise was filled wails and cries of the patients’ families.
A resident of Dhandbad, Abhijit Das cried his heart out after losing his mother Nalini Das who was admitted at the fourth floor of the annex building. “Ora amar ma ke mere phello (They killed my mother).”
The emotions got varied as time lapsed. Partha Pandit visibly devastated after running from pillar to post in search of his father Jyotish Chandra Pandit, said: “Amar bandhura o ami panchta hospital ghuri, keu boleni amar baba kothay. Sheshe ekhane main block e pelam (My friends and I went in search of my father to five different hospitals, but found him nowhere. Later, we saw him among the dead bodies here in the main block).”
Dhananjay Pal, a resident of Bashirhat, blamed his stars for bringing his daughter Prakrita here after she suffered head injuries. The 14-year-old girl was admitted in the neurology department and was supposed to be discharged on Friday. “Ami niche boshe chhilam security ke bollam ekbar gate ta khule din ami ok namiye ani, dilo na, mere phello amar meye take (I was there sitting at the waiting room and requested the security to open the gates to bring my daughter out, but they refused. They are criminals,” lamented an angry Mr Pal.
The tragedy seemed unending. S. Chakraborty’s wife Moonmoon, in the hospital with a broken ankle, called him to tell him a fire had broken out. “She died by the time I reached the hospital,” he said with tears rolling down.
Swapan Paik also lost his wife in similar way. “I was informed by one of my relatives about the fire. I was supposed to take back my wife today who was admitted with broken leg. I came here only to find her dead,” Mr Paik added.
However, there were few lucky ones too. Munna Acharya’s determination saved her husband Sripada Acharya’s life who was admitted at the hospital after suffering bike accident. “Suddenly at 3.30 pm, thick black smoke engulfed the whole place. Worried, I asked the hospital staff what had happened and asked them to call the fire brigade. Their reply was ‘we are looking into it’,” Munna said.
Guessing something was wrong, she took the stairs and went to her husband’s ward. “The whole place was engulfed in smoke...everyone was running....I saw a nurse who tried to stop me….I pushed her and went to my husband. At the time, my husband was being given saline. I tore off the saline and dragged him through the stairs and brought him outside the hospital,” a visibly shaken Munna added.
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