Nearly all victims choked to death on the upper floors; 6 directors of the hospital arrested
At least 90 people were killed in a fire that ravaged a hospital here in the early hours of Friday. Most of the victims choked to death on the upper floors, even as the toxic smoke engulfed the building.
The fire broke out around 3 a.m. in the basement of the seven-storey building of the Advanced Medical Research Institute (AMRI) Hospitals at Dhakuria. Soon the smoke swept through to the top, threatening the lives of the 164 in-patients.
Amid frantic cries for help, some youths from the nearby locality joined in the rescue, pulling out those still alive, long before firefighters reached the spot. The death toll would have been less had the hospital authorities allowed them in to evacuate the patients earlier, the locals claimed.
“Most of the victims died of suffocation. The building is centrally air-conditioned, and there was no ventilation channel for the smoke to come out,” a Fire officer said, even as desperate firefighters smashed the glass windows to let the fumes out. The basement where the fire started housed a pharmacy, a central storeroom and the biomedical department, all containing inflammable articles, he said.
Heroic Kerala nurses
Two nurses of the female general ward, from Kerala, saved eight of the nine patients in the ward, but the valiant ones perished in the heat and smoke.
Some relatives of the patients broke down as news of the death of their loved ones came in, while the rest frantically searched for their kin, scanning the list of the deceased.
Trepidation rose as the hospital authorities informed the firefighters of the presence of a biomedical department in the basement, where radioactive material for treatment of cancer patients was stored.
An official of the National Disaster Response Force said: “We are trying to find out whether the fire has reached the radioactive material.” No radiation leak had so far been detected. However, the hospital authorities later denied that any hazardous material had been stored in the basement.
Six directors of the hospital have been arrested and the institute will be sealed once the rescue operations are over, said West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who visited the hospital as well as the morgue at the state-run SSKM Hospital, where the bodies were taken.
“The hospital authorities did not inform the Fire Department about the incident. It was the local police station that made the call at 4.10 a.m.,” Minister for Fire and Emergency Services Javed Ahmed Khan said.
In all, 28 fire-tenders and three sky-lifts were pressed into action and the blaze was put out late in the afternoon. The survivors were shifted to five hospitals.
It is so disgusting that our politicians have lot of time to fight in the parliament with each other like irresponsible morons. They never fight for real needs like this.
Hospital did not call the fire fighters immediately after the incident. Which indicates how well they are trained by Hospital management.
The management is 100% responsible for this 90 deaths.
If they are given severe punishment, at least others will take precautions.
This is really a tragic incident. So many innocents people dead. We all feel for the dead and their families. Considering so many related fire incidents in recent years - March 2010 (Stephen House) Kolkata, the 2011 Bandra ( Mumbai) Fire, the Nov 2011 Delhi eunuch festival fire. Very Strict anti-fire measures should be put into place by the civil authorities and we all pray that the net outcome of all these fires will be progress on the fire fighting front in our country. I certainly hope that the NDMA will now have a field day in Kolkata and its suburbs and introduce new legislature which the Kolkata Municipalities will enforce mercilessly. JAI HIND.
At the outset,I must admit I was deeply saddened to see the tragedy on our TV screen in Sydney.I live in a multi-storied building with following safety features : there are two fire escape stairs at both ends of each floor with lights on 24 hours a day and the door (that opens only from inside ) at the bottom of the stairs opens into an open space where fire trucks are not obstructed.There are fire hydrants on each floor, 2 / 3 sprinklers in each apartment / each lift lobby that activate an alarm with too much smoke and the fire station is alerted and comes to the building with no one phoning them.Fire safety drill is done once a year for all occupants of the building.Fire / electrical safety inspections are carried out by independent private companies licenced by the government once every year with a detailed report sent to owners corporation for remedial measures.Here fire safety includes front door of each apartment : it should be fire-proof, opens easily.Can India follow these ?
Some one suggested officials should check each and every building periodically for following saftey norms. Interesting!. If the officials concerned are honest who will make sure his family members are safe?.
In sixty years since independence, we have not evolved a fire code mandatory for
every building, residential or commercial. Incidents like this are bound to happen,
so will the Upaahaar cinema fiasco.
The mark of development is not earning a few pennies in back office work, but
creating a the foundations on which thinkers and movers can build upon. These
foundations on every aspect of life in India, be it drinking water, sewage, drainage
and traffic were perhaps better in Harappa and Mohenjodaro than the modern
India.
One would think this is the job of a leader or some Civil servants. But their
existence in India is a business being carried over from the colonials.
Rest of the Indians focus on such incidents as a major problem, forgetting that
these are symptoms of a bigger disease, not a one off incident.
This is very pathetic state of affairs. The Nation wakes up only when such grave situation arises. Lack of adequate safety measures visible not only in hospitals, but can be seen in many areas. Right from mushrooming apartments, schools, housing estates, cinema halls and what not to add on, all fail to respect safety standards. This incidence in Kolkata is an eye opener to all agencies whoever approves the plans and systems to be built and operate where several human safety related elements are overlooked. Let us just imagine when foreseeable and manageable incidents like this are overlooked and we do not have adequate emergency preparedness and response programs how are we going to handle severe natural calamities to minimize human loss? We are already the second largest populated country in the world and having known the fact we cannot afford to make mistakes or find reasons, then why these things do happen?
very sad
This should be a lesson for TN govt also to act sternly - better late than never - atleast in the case of illegal structures in Ranganathan street , Usman road [ T.Nagar ] and other parts of MADRAS . In VELACHERY also , streets are so narrow with so many bends , fire service vehicles / ambulances etc have no space to move as the roads are very narrow.
I have been trying to avoid logging into The Hindu, just to avoid seeing this picture..because i understand how it is, to loose a loved one...I wish our politicians ensured safety and security to every citizen, before highlighting out economic strength and military power around the globe..Our politicians keep traveling all over the world, cant they get the best practices in administration & management and try implementing that in our country, at least in major cities..Am 27 and i never voted, and i have decided only to cast my vote the day i see hope..the day i see one political party working for the country.
National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA)may wish to take it up as a case study. We will have many such gruesome incidents if we do not take urgent steps. In Hyderabad, we have seen many infants being burnt in neo-natal ICUs because of electric short circuits. This happened in the State's apex children's hospital, namely, Nilofur Hospital. I request the Prime Minister to personally monitor the progress of investigation into the AMRI mishap on a monthly basis. If this is the situation in a corporate hospital, can one imagine the state of affairs in government hospitals. A couple of days back, we have seen news reports stating that the Gandhi Hospital and Osmania Hospital have been releasing their hazardous bio-medical wastes into the general drains in total violation of pollution control laws. Is the life of the hapless sewerage worker who goes into the manhole to keep the lines flowing smoothly for all of us less worthy than us?
Shocking incident. heartily condolence for those who lost their near
and dear in this heart breaking incident.We need to graduate
ourselves in many ways these are sign that we are diverting from
human values. Installation of fire prevention and detection measure
is one thing but anticipating/addressing/responding/handling the
situation is other subject. We do not see any drill and awareness
program which can add value in aversion of such accident.Many people
even do not know class of fire and its fire extinguisher than the
question is, how people will expedite their support in aversion.
Every single person of such institution where fire concerns has
chance need full fire drill once in month. These are untouchable
area where we even not bother to think because we are not matured at
that extent or may we do not want to do for other concern.Because we
are more inclined on P&l rather than human values.....
The management of hospital and security are waste fellows,they are not save the even single person.it is big tragedy for their families which are in hospital.This tragedy incident complete responsible to government and hospital management.
The guilty should be hanged.
Unspeakable tragedy. I pray for the souls of the deceased. Fire safety norms must be stringently applied, at least after this tragic wake up call. We are witnessing too many fire accidents in Kolkata as well as the rest of India to be pardonable any more.
What has happened to our Country? Now the sick and the old are also falling prey to the greedy class of people trying to acquire money by hook or by crook. All administrative functions have failed and people are running after wealth. Just wanted to know how will these people who had the serious responsibility of looking and saving the sick people be punished ?...or will this incident be again forgotten like the one which happened in Park Street Queen's Mansion?
These hospital-owners are unjustful to their patients, their staff, their nurse and even to the whole society! They are only profit-seeking unscrupulous businessmen!
What is safety? We don't believe in safety standards. If you talk about it 90% of our hospitals in the country will not pass the mark as they flout the safety standards. The approving authorities turn a blind eye as long as their pocket is filled. Grieve for those who perished in the fire.
The hospital fire in Calcutta once again highlights the poor safety systems and lack of preparedness to manage, in case of any eventuality. After a delayed initial response, it took 3 days to eliminate 10 terrorists in Hotel Taj and other buildings in Mumbai. Another similar case in point is the ageing dam in Kerala-Tamil Nadu border. The 100 year old dam which is on a 1000 year lease (ever heard of something like this!) on a British era deal, from one state to another and cannot be rebuilt because of petty politics. This densely populate area has had mild earth quakes recently and it is only a matter of time before we have front page news that will be worse than anything the world has seen since Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Discipline and accountability is something that we Indians have to learn and learn fast.
People living in Kolkata do not fear death. They fear falling ill. Because that means you really have no escape. The so called facilities that are supposed to be life-saving, will squeeze the very last drops of life out of you. The last thing they want to do is to lose the patient. So they make sure you never recover. There is a disease in the medical system itself. It is sick. And since it is being looked after by the same people who slow-poison patients, rest assured they will not let it cure. There needs to be an uproar to treat this disease. Right now.
There is no value for human life in India and everything is taken into granted. It is NOT 90 People Killed. It is “90 FAMILIES” Destroyed. Many Kids might have lost their parents or parents might have lost their Kids. Invaluable & irreversible loss for those 90 Families. These type of fire accidents occurred many times in India in different locations and we lost many lives. What lessons government learnt from the previous accidents and What Stringent actions taken by them to prevent ?. Do we have any statistics for the prevention of fire accidents?. Even now, What action govt going to take to prevent these accidents in future?. If re-occurred in future, what responsibility there are going to take? How serious it will be?. Till the time, we have the religions, caste feeling, Careless attitude on corruption (no social responsibility), wanting for freebies etc, we will be keep on treated/punished like this only.
A fire rages in the basement of a six-story building for hours-the fire brigade arrives after an hour and a half, they don't have equipment to reach the sixth floor, bedsheets have to be tied to function as a ladder till they can reach the pathetic excuse for a ladder that does exist. This in a shiny public-private venture. Multiply this a hundred or thousand fold, whether its pollution, traffic accidents, train crashes, house collapses..the list is endless. Never mind the shiny new skyscrapers that are potential incinerators and gigantic tombstones.And there you have it-India as a permanent disaster. These are the folks who spent $10.5 billion on cutting edge "fighter" jets last year while the trains and buses are rolling trash cans and deadly disasters, go from worse to intolerable. All this, an observer wrote "while the many eat dirt". These are the folks who promise to lavish upon us scores of Chernobyls and Fukushimas in the form of the Indian nuclear complex.Stay tuned
How many channels in TVs and how much time they spend on showing happy dances,happy eating and happy sources of enjoyment.How many persons and how many occasions we feel about the failure of systems and success of corruption in this country.Life is mixture of joy and sorrow and also it is seen in the lives of every one some time or other.We do not attempt to seek reasons for our moments of happiness because we all think that is our birth right. We are one with the people when they suffer due to calamities caused by men or by nature.In the absence of calamities we are indifferent to the day,today problems of them even if they are closely related.Hamlet asked to himself,"To be or not to be.Whether it is nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortunes or to take arms against the sea of troubles" Hamlet is not lone in this question.We are all in the same thinking many times in our lives.
We are making good growth in all fields but when term safety will come, we are trying to save money. We have all technologies then also we are not using just to save some investment.so pls take necessary precaution & investment some extra money for your safety also.
"CM ordered cancellation of licence for the hospital", "fire department issued notice in July, 2011" and " hospital directors were arrested" may be good for the TV "Breaking News" and establishment but certainly not for the families who lost their loved ones. The authorities are to answer the following: Why did not the fire department go back to the hospital after July 2011 to check if the fire code violations noted in their notice were corrected. What kind of combustible material the hospital stored in the basement? When was the last time the hospital coducted fire drill? Did the hospital provide fire extinguishers at various locations in the hospital and the hospital staff were trained to use them? Were the Exit doors locked against the fire code? What was the established response time for the fire department to reach the hospitals? Were there adequate Exit signage for the people to escape.
It comes as a double blow to the kin of the patients. The trauma of being hospitalised is now superseded by the trauma of their death. May the soul of all the deceased rest in peace.
I don not know why innocent people are diying day by day due to lack of proper facilities against natural/unnatural disasters.We are on the hand of luck for carrying our lives.Govt. should look the matter seriously.For the past three years Kolkata has faced a massive fire incidents but our government is still seeing the incidents.Now its time to wakeup and save the valuable lives of the innocent people.
Let it serve as a wake up call for all hospitals in the country to do
self-checking all safety measures. One example coming to my mind is
the location of Apollo Hospital in Greames Lane, Chennai. It is the
main one though its branches are in other areas in the city. It is in
a lane and it is a dead end from the other side. The lane leading to
the hospital is dark and everyday, the parking of vehicles is a
painful affair even for small cars. So, it will be v v difficult for
any emergency measures such as use of fire engines and other
equipments to come nearby and do any operation.
Not only the license of the hospital, but also the licenses of the people(doctors/professors/security maintenance) should be cancelled. Otherwise these people can start new hospital with new name after coming out with bail. Being a private hospital charging huge amount for any treatment, lack of minimum security for patients is sad.Govt should not spare a single person behind the incident. Govt should make the periodic exercise of fire safety equipment mandatory where ever it is required. It will save so many lives.
This unfortunate incident which shows again, that safety is not a value in this hospital or other public places in India. When safety is a value, then measures to maintain safety such as fire escapes, fire drills and prevention practices are implemented. The only way to avoid such incidents is to make safety a value. This will lead to pro-active measures for fire prevention and fire safety.
How more tragic can this get? It is said that this is the second fire accident in this hospital. Well, many heads in the West Bengal Govt. (and in the construction & Hospital admin.) including Mamata Banerjee's should roll. Let alone preventive checks, even the basic thought of plugging the gaps after the first incident at the hospital has not struck their otherwise intelligent minds of the powers that be in West Bengal. This is perhaps true for the rest of India too. We Indian are only good in opening our loud mouths and in acting smart. No one wants to get down to doing things that really matter. Look at the metro cities, they are no better than ill-kept public toilets. No more cries of lack of money. There is enough and nmore to go into the corrupt politicians' pockets but none to go towards servicing the basic needs of the people. What a shame!
Why did the persons in charge at the hospital abandon the patients to their fate ? They had the duty to do everything they could to same as many lives as possible ? Doctors and other high-ranking hospital staff have to be the first in line when it came to save human lives. These questions have to answered as the cowardice and negligence of those in charge has cost so many lives and hurt so many families!
Our country is definitely going down the drain. It is a hard pill to swallow but that is the truth. People want to bypass all the rules and regulations to save money, otherwise all the safety procedures followed in western countries can be followed in India also. It is not just right to just blame politicians for this. The mindset of the people have to change. No body should use workarounds and bypass the protocols. I can give an example here. How many people pulled over for over speeding come forward to go the court and pay the fine? Instead we bribe the police and think we saved money by not going to the court. So, it is the people who make India not a safe place to live. These bigger things like the Fire accident not being handled quickly and efficiently is the sum of smaller parts. Corruption at every level and people not giving importance to safety.
While I hold no brief for the Hospital authorities,it is observed that generally no one attaches any blame on the Government and other authorities including the Fire Services who are required to certify that the premises conform to all the requirements and that all necessary safety precautions are in place before an occupation certificate is given.Aren't the government and police and other agencies a little too quick to pass the buck on to the hospital directors and wash their own hands of all culpability and responsibility.Let us face facts.Besides the Hospital Directors who have been arrested,all government,civic,police and other security agencies who okayed the commencement of the hospital also need to be put in the DOCK.
Structural planning with fire hazard in mind with proper fire escape systems in place for all public utilities, both public and private,is the place to start. In some instances some consideration may need to be given for old buildings for retrofitting such systems. Properly trained international standard fire brigade at hand is a must for any civilized, safe living. All places where public gather or attend must have firefighting equipments of known standards and must have policies for periodic inspection and certification. Most of the time fire starts from electrical systems. All old wiring has to be tested and there has to be rules in place to follow implicitly!!
the city of joy has suddenly turned into a state of gloom.43 killed march 2010 in park street,29 infants in nearby burdhman and now the deadliest of them all...what followed up the incident was quite expected and exasperating to say the least.politicians flocked and announced ex gratia for the victims.what i never understand is how they just quantify the value of human lives;2 lakh for the family of dead and so on...its the height of callousness and indifference.systematic overhaul of medical practices and ethics call for an urgent overhaul,is anyone listening?i hope so but don't expect the same.plethora of committees and even greater number of recommendations but the final result continues to be appalling.can anybody dare to answer my question:how many lives will have to be sacrificed before quality and ethical medical facilities reinforced by powerful institution becomes the norm rather than exception? I hope somebody finds an ans. though i don't expect it either...
No one in India cares for the lives of human lives, be it government, politicians, courts, or any other institutions. The Kolkata tragedy is the latest example of the sad truth with which over a billion Indians are destined to live every day. The fact is that most of the tragedies in India could be avoided and so many lives could be saved if people in power and positions of authority have sense of integrity and responsibility, and if they put human life above everything else. There are many more such tragedies, including the collapses of Mullaperiyar dam, waiting to happen and Indians can only expect callousness from our politicians and governments.
AMRI hospital is giving wrong and false statemnet.They dumped huge material in the basement including redundent beds and unuservicable materials.Switch room was so dark that people could not help running any equipments.Also they made extenstion of the building without plan and fire fighting equpments were never tested by fire brigade.Not a single director were present to supervise the fire. No technical personnel there to conduct the drilling of fire fighting.Wrong electrical connections and ducting of Air Condition is the cause of great disaster.No ministry can escape their responsibility.A class of businees community and corporate people are doing all wrong and they never been punished. It is just a murder,a talibani attack on the sick people.Not a single doctor or administrater have been effected by the fire as they never come for rescue work
I do not understand one thing, is this hospital constructed in a wooden frame or concrete.
Although I think nothing can make up for the loss of lives, the reactive actions by the government to cancel the licence of the hospital and arrest 6 of its executives was timely, swift and reflects its intention to go the whole hog to punish the guilty. Rescue, investigation, punishment all things aside I think what is even more important is to ensure that such tragedy, which appears to be preventable, does not recur and the safety arrangements in other hospitals, housings, commercial apartments, markets and everywhere where there is a chance of massive loss of life and property are reviewed and that stern action is taken in case there is any flouting of norms or compromise of security. Only by taking these proactive measures will we be able to sharply reduce the occurrence of such man-made disasters if not completely stop them from claiming lives.
Its very disturbing and am concerned about the people who lost their near and dear. After all Our governments take actions only after major disaster happens. Be it a terroist attack or other man made accidents. Its really disgusting to see fire service personnel reaching very late to the spot. While giving License to hospitals, concerned authorities should not compromise on safety standards otherwise these mishaps would continue to happen. Everyday a mourning becomes a part of an Indian life
For all the commissions and omissions on the partof the hospital authorities,government departments concerned, punitive actions with dissmissals from service with out any accrued benefits combined with rigorous imprisonments will alone boost the morale, sense of belonging, and accountability.NHRC should be approppriately appraised of the situation and ensured that it do not interfere in proceedings involving calamities of this nature. Awarding of monetary compensation alone shall not stand to mitigate the evils of national calamities of these sorts.
Utter disgust. The sub-continent remains far, far behind and lax when it comes being prepared for and handling natural disaster and catastrophes. Tragedy that could've saved lives if handled better. Pathetic. Heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families.
Will Mamata order an inspection of all the hospitals / commercial establishments/ government buildings in the state now? And come out with a honest report as to how many of them are really safe / built and maintained regularly to safety standards? If the hospital dirctors are responsible, so are the government officials and the health minister.
AMRI hospital in Kolkata was co-founded in 1996 along with the West Bengal government. Why not the government equally responsible along with management for the Tragedy, where about 80 patients presisted? What has Mamata Banerjee the Chief Minister who rushed to the spot has to say on government responsibility? One goes to hospitals with aliments to get cured and not to die. The trend of private hospitals all over the country is to cramp inpatient wards for better revenue generation. They admit patients even if it is sufficient if they are attended as outpatient.
Why F.I.R. will not be made against health department officials too. What the they can do by revoking the licence now. Why they do not do regular inspection to stop such catastrope. What is the duty/responsibility of the MIC? I intend to draw attention of Hon'ble courts in the aforesaid matters. In addition to the compensation all the medical expense, collected by the hospital authorities, should be returned. I request all Indian brothers & sisters not to dance with the tune of the unworthy political leaders. And please do not participate in their celebrations to commemorate Swamiji's 150th birth anniversary. These people have no right to take name of Swamiji,Netaji, Gandhiji, Lalaji .......I have no varse to vent my frustration.
Shocked to hear. In Western Countries, without fire certficate confirming fire alarms, sprinklers, escape routes and up to date maintenence records one would not be able to operate a business. India may be developing, one might think that we are as good as Western countries. Look at the way people drive, attitudes about cleanliness and lack of self respect. India will take another 50 years to evolve and reach the Western standards.
There is no fire-mock drill concept in India. In western countries periodic fire drills are conducted in every building, so that everyone is aware of escape routes and what to do in event of a fire.
As a hospital safety professional for 30 years in the US, my heart goes out to the victims, their families, the workers, and the entire community. Thankfully, the citizens pitched in to assist in the evacuation, which appears to have been tragically delayed. During difficult economic times safety measures may become lax, staffing reduced, and some maintenance deferred. It is inexcusible that the fire department was not automatically and directly notified of the fire. The entire system seems to be broken. It is possible to recover from such disasters and end up stronger than before. Dedicate yourselves to it so that those who died will not have died in vain. Blessing to you and yours.
There are no words to express sorrow and shock over the way human life counts in the country. A hospital which should save people's lives has extinguished them by criminal negligence. This incident should spur the entire political class into actions that should make this incident last and gets never repeated from anyart of the country. People who are guilty of criminal negligence should be treated as having committed mass murders and handed down rigorous life imprisonment. Only then, we can hope for an end to callousness and corruption in every field of administration. We share the sorrow of grief stricken families and pray God to give them the strength to withstand the loss of their near and dear.
The fire department should also be severely punished. they arrived with improper equipment-second incident and stephen court around 20 months ago! What's the point of being a modern city with shopping malls if u cannot provide safety to the ones who need most of all- hospital patients. even the hospital staff who left the patients should be heavily punished but i guess indian law about "death due to negligence" is not as strong and they will go Scott free!
What about the individuals heading various authorities that are responsible for town planning, building safety and fire safety of buildings in a city? In my view, they are the real culprits as they are the ones who allowed or disallowed but overlooked the setting up of this hospital with an accident-prone plan. They must be arrested and prosecuted on priority basis in a fast track court, and sentences delivered in quick time, maybe within 6 months. Next in line should be the hospital management. Let the chronic disease get the best attention, and the symptoms will automatically vanish! Of course, these days, medical professionals are working more on treating symptoms for the survival of their exorbitant earnings, than curing the actual diseases.
really the disaster was very pain full it should not be repeated. government ought to take precaution and strong restriction should be imposed on the hospitals which are not to follow rules and regulations.
Even if the exact same tragedy were to repeat itself at the same time each year, the ineffective response of the hospital management and our emergency personnel will not diminish. That is how India is. It is exactly to avert such tragedies modern societies have strict fire codes regulating buildings, streets, and other public spaces, which in India are either lacking or unenforced owing to corruption. If you think corruption does not kill; well, think again.
Not jut AMRI top management but also the govt employees of various departments who provided them licenses should be behind the bars. no one gonna take action on these people. these corrupt employees are equally responsible for this mishap. this is not the story of just one state or one health department, the whole nation is suffering from such incidences. WAKE UP GOVT. THAT'S THE REASON WE WANT A STRONG LOKPAL AND/OR STRONG LAWS AGAINST CORRUPTION THAT SHOULD INCLUDE NOT ONLY BUREAUCRATS BUT LOWER LEVEL GOVT OFFICIALS AS WELL.
I have seen so many pvt hospitals of Chennai are in very congested building with ONLY ONE ENTRY/EXIT, NO RAMPS, NO POWER BACK-UP and its in multi-storey building (how you will remove patients if any major fire because you can't use lifts at time of fire... ) I have got a chance to work in UAE & in saudi arabia., the biggest hospitals (including international hospitals like german, british, canadian tie up) of that regions are mostly of G+1 floor only (all of them are centralized AC hospitals).. with multiple entry and exit points with clearly marking emergency exits and fire extinguisher points etc... Unless hospital managements recruit a professional administrator with minimum experience of overseas knowledge, lives of the patients will remain in danger. Some people may argue or say that, they have international standard etc., but its not always true., because i too was a prey for such a promises., when i visited dubai., then only i understood what is an international standard mean...
Only when such disaster happens we think about safety. All around the country there are multistoried buildings with excessive interior upholstery which are prone to getting fire.
Authority to certify the Fire and safety requirements for the buildings, who has certified the Hospital needs to be arrested and punished for negligence of his duty.Other public utility buildings need to be inspected and recommendations need to be implemented and buildings to be certified by the authority, unitl then the occupancy certificate needs to be suspended for all such buildings. Is it possible in India??
Though it is such a big hospital, it didn't maintain any fire and smoke controlling cylinders. And working staff didn't inform to patients and save them. It like a Bhopal gas tragedy and the staff are Kumkum Sexena, who didn't bring awareness among the people around uninon carbide.
It's outrageous that so many people perished for no fault of theirs. What immediately struck my mind was the Upahaar tragedy in Delhi. Today's incident is all the more painful as those who ought to be given care, were infact left there lifeless. It's time for tough action which should send a strong signal to the negligent lot.
Another ugly face of corruption.Apparently bribes were paid to possibly a C class fire inspector to obtain NOC for the hospital without installing adequate fire fighting equipment.After seeing the pictures of the tragedy in the TV,it reminded me of Nazi Horror movies of gas chambers for the Jews.And the Standing Committee on Lokpal decides to keep the C class employees out of ambit of Lokpal.How horribly insensitive could they be?ANNA TUM SANGARSH KARO HUM TUMHARE SATH HAIN!!!
Dheeraj Shetty has raised a serious point.we don't need enemies to get killed. we are killing ourselves!
It is an unimaginable tragedy at the hospital. Without even finding out the reason for the cause of fire, the CM has put behind bars a couple of people just to protect her government from blame game. What a shame. This is what happens in India. Politicians first scrable not to find ways and means to bring solace to the injured but try to protect their rear end. Let us hope at least this time the ruling government will investigate effectively and come out with openenss. The report should benefit all the hospitals around the country.
One wonders how licences are granted to open and operate hospitals and if there is an independent agency to regularly inspect hospitals on safety and health issues? Cancelling the hospital's licence is a politically shrewd move. Ulitimately, politicians have to provide leadership and good governance.
This is a most unfortunate tragedy for the human race that too in the health care sector. The Directorate of Fire safty, The Chief Inspectorate of Electricity, The Medical council of India, the state and central Directorate of Health services have failed to be effective in their routine inspection of the services' institutions under them apart from the local municipal Corporation. The present day system is only behind everbody's earnings risking the valuable human life and blaming shortage of man power finance etc. etc.,for justifications after all tragedies.All prayers to the Almighty for better welfare of the human race and our heartfelt condolenses to our affected brotheren
I am stunned ! How could this happen ? Its serious concern that we are still not developed proper methods or practices to disposed harmful chemical or radioactive substance thats are generated on daily basis from hospitals. Its horrible news.
We Indians are so bothered about petty politics that we do not care about life and property. our politicians are so occupied in politicizing petty issues that they fail to tyake any concrete issue. it is time Madam Mamta comes out of her impress poor attitued and take some conrete steps.
What in india lacking is answerability. Make people who are responsible for each of the operation and put them behind the bars. Only then this kind of accidents wont happen.
This is unacceptable. In the US, every employee including the doctors and nurses
do mandatory fire drill/training to deal with such situations. Actually, hospital
employees receive training on how to use a fire extinguisher. Also, There is a rapid
alarm system that gets activated as the fire fighters arrive. Doors are shut between
units to contain the fire. Nobody is allowed to use the elevators until the issue is
resolved.
In general, there is strong sense of civility, public responsibility and service in the
minds of the general public which gets reflected in the work place also.
I am sickened to see that the hospital has bypassed laws and regulation to have a
cancer/radiation unit in the basement. Rampant corruption in getting approvals
and greed are the basic reason behind this disaster.
If the government does not react to this in a really serious way, we will see more
disasters like this and undermine the purpose of medical profession.
Nowadays Hospital's rating are based on business. If their turnover is more than what one could achieve, then they are termed as number one hospital.
People who have got the right links with political mafia can make their own rules in India. Incidents like this happens day in and day out in our country and we forget after a few days and culprits walk free handed. how long is this going to continue..well nobody knows. Respect to life and humaneness is completely absent among our indians. We keep talking, politicians make merry out of it and we are not ashamed.This is India.
MPs make a huge furore when they were given second class AC coach rather than a first class AC coach and they have suspended the officer immediately. Is this is a democratic country? When are we going to change?.When are we going to start thinking.when are we going to stop accepting these inhuman attitudes.when are we going to respect every human's life as ours...Is it a dead end tunnel?
May God save this country
Cancelling License now !?? We all can see how we have the priorities right. I do not think with the condition it is in this hospital can function any time now.
It is important to see who in the local authorities and from the hospital staff cut corners and diluted the regulations. Who was responsible for Fire Alarm System not working? Why did the smoke management system not work? What was the safety department doing? Why did the Fire Tenders reach so late? Surely it was not traffic at that time of the night.
I am not saying do not arrest the board members, but it is equally, perhaps more important to catch the real culprits who did a sloppy job to begin with.
as always the response to disaster has always been sloppy in india
We dont change, may the death toll is 70 or 700. Its unfortunate, this hospital suffered, but infact 80 to 90 percent of the hospitals do not have proper precautions. Buts its even unfortunate, unless some mishap happens, there will not be any action. Is our government is for prevention or cure. We violoate rules to construct our own house, we violate traffic rules to drive, we violate to live and over come by bribing at every step of our life, and these are simply consequnces of such poor thought process. Compensation to the victims is partial action, seizing all hospitals , including goverment hospitals with lack of security mechanism, is what makes it complete.
Mamatha Banerjee is a negative minded politician and basically a
street fighter.Instead of fighting with the Centre on various
issues let her concentrate on the basics of human life.When she
was Railway Minister a lot of lives were lost and now as CM she
will kill people by burning in lakhs due to her poor knowledge
about administration.The people of West Bengal should realise
as to how backward they are.By changing it's name or
Government things will not change. They should learn to talk
less and act more. Then less people will die in such accidents.
Now politics will be done over this matter too.
Along with punishing guilty, we have to make sure this does not repeat.
sure this incident will not make a lesson for people in powers and officers who gave permission/license. After two years some more fire accident will happen and they may use this AMRI incident for an example, "in 2011,dec 9th fire accident happens..."like this. Why govt hospitals are not used and why concerned people take necessary steps to improve Public govt hospitals?
So sad about this incident. Government is greatly responsible for this.
There should be a routine check up everywhere in all buildings in India like other developed countries do by the fire department. Otherwise what is their job??????? Coming after everything gone wrong???
They will pour some water and go. There must be more responsibilty for the fire and safety department.
Heart felt condolence to the people who were killed and injured. Fire accidents, building collapses, road accidents, train accidents etc are regularly happening in the country. It is going to happen as well. There is no hope of rectification because of corruption which has affected all walks of society like cancer. Very few people who are conscience oriented are keeping the hope alive. People who get bribes do not realise one day they or their near and dear will also be affected in this kind of accidents because of their corrupt practice. Hope the enquiry will lead to logical conclusion leading way for system improvement rather than blaming some human error. In UK whenever any meeting starts (however auspicious that meeting/day may be), the first thing mentioned is about fire exits, if there is fire drill on that day etc.
This is not another rare event, just some time ago in the same city of Kolkata there was another fire accident in the witers building, lot of people died. What has the government done since then and now? Worry about how to get more votes by Mamata so she can please her masters in Delhi. Where there any fire safety inspections done for this Hospital, where there any fire drills at this hospital, did the fire department give a safety certificate and if so how much bribe did the fire station officer take to give this certificate, these are the questions that must be asked now, NOT about who ran away or worry about FIRs.
Shame on this government which cannot even provide the basic serices.
We have had several inciedents in the past and people died in the same maaner. The government has to take an initiative to put up the strong guidelines on the safety measures to be followed in the Big Hospitals.
I would be glad if proven wrong, but i believe that majority of the hospitals out there do not have enough measures in place to prevent such tragedies. It just happens that those in AMRI Kolkata were not fortunate enough.
I dont understand, why people are writing about what is being shared on facebook, out here. probably the "big brother" will be better off channelising its "intelligent" resources on monitoring safety situations in hospitals rather than what oneposts on some netwroking site.
It's clearly evident that due to greed of Promoters/Businessmen, illegal/unauthorised construction or use of open space is common in most of the commercial & residential places in Kolkata/Howrah. Promoters/Businessmen are doing this without any fear and putting life of common people in danger. We have seen three tragedies till now in recent past - fire at Nandram Market, Stephen Court & now at AMRI but government is not taking any action Promoters/Businessmen who are playing with the life of common people. I stay in a complex (Vivek Vihar, Ph-V, Howrah - 711102, West Bengal) which has around more than 450 flats and more than 3000 people residing there. The greedy Promoter has put transformers and generators in the basement of the buildngs without any proper fire fighting arrangements. Also the space between two buildings are so less that any fire accident will spread to all buildings within few minutes/hours. Instead of this, Promoter is continuously constructing buildings ignoring all
It is appalling to note that over 73 in patients have died in a major
fire accident that happened at AMRI hospitals at South Kolkota which
ignored safety norms. India has a very poor record on adopting the
safety norms whether it is in schools/colleges, Cinema halls,
hospitals and in tall buildings where people in large number meets.
The delay in the arrival of fire service personnel in this case is
also surprising. The callousness of the Corporation authorities who
blindly had given permission to run the hospital without insisting on
safety norms has taken the toll of 73 lives. Those involved in the
matter should be brought to book and severely punished. A revisit of
safety norms in places where people congregate has become a must.
Criminal negligence. 2nd fire in 3 years, and still this happens. Allowing promoters of all types to run hospitals is behind this fall in standard.
KOLKATA is a slum city with hand/cycle rickshaws. POOR infrastructure whether it is education,health, transport, Hotel industry.... STREET culture thy name is culcutta.Highly polluted slum.
In a slum culture , how can you expect world standards. For everything the people are moving to SOUTH. STRIKE culture of not doing jobs.... but want heavy pay packets.They don't want to spend and fight for even fifty paisa. What a great Kolkata it is !!!!!
It is not enough that the hospital license is cancelled. All bureaucrats involved in sanctioning the licencse in the first place (with or without checking its merit) should be suspended as well. When will India overcome the callous attitude that is costing precious lives, one yearns.
Its correct to say that Govt. should concentrate on such safety lapses which led to tragedies like this, But it is also our duty to focus and highlight these issues instead of sharing rubbish in FB. In the name of freedom of speech today social networking sites are full of hate speeches and sometimes preaches intolerance which is also not good. We should use such sites for promoting religious tolerance, and tolerance in all such matters which could led to conflicts, extremism in any form shall not be promoted. If we do this , Govt. or any such agency would not have to worry about content of sites. Lets be more responsible too.
Kolkata has a poor record as far as preventing fire related accidents are concerned. The city of joy has experienced devastating fire break outs in Burrabazar market area, Stephen Court previously that caused massive loss of lives and property. Now it is one of the famous hospitals in the city that has met the same tragic fate. All this points to a fundamental failure of the ruling political elites and administration to recognize the seriousness of the problem and how vulnerable the overcrowded city is with its unplanned growth of urbanization. The Mamata Banerjee government must focus on proper implementation of fire safety guidelines in apartment and complexes instead of wasting time over bringing about cosmetic changes to give a false impression of development.
National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) should be authorised to impose heavy penalty to public utility services that do not adhere to safety norms. Penalty = 10% of property's market value. Also whistleblowers should be rewarded with 25% of penalty recovered i.e. 2.5% of property's market value. Employees working in such unsafe environment or even the users/customers are likely to be the first whistleblowers & they should be encouraged to report violations & earn rewards for that.
India is a big country. Largest democracy which she boasts of. Few years before she used to dream 2020 and now dreams 2040.Mr. Obama says she is developed. Everybody feels happy. Fire at Kolkata is not new. Politics with fire is also not new. In Indian scenario Kolkata has always given something extra jolt. For coming 15 or more days we will hear big talks. Now Kolkata always speak in terms of Rs. as the entire India understands only business and investments now. Education, health, entertainment, services everywhere you need money.
Let us also speak in terms of quantity.
How many arrests have been made so far?
For each death Rs. 5 crore must be the compensation.
For injured Rs. 1 crore.
This money must be paid by AMRI within 72 hours.
As in these private hospitals the patients are first put into ICU the AMRI top management people should be first put behind the bars.Next we must see the dark nexus AMRI has with the Govt. bodies to bypass the safety norms.
AMRI officials should be charged for Murder
This has occurred only two weeks since THE WEEK [THE WEEK/Hansa 2011 ranking, November 27, 2011] rated AMRI Hospitals, Kolkata among the "Best Hospitals For Emergency Care - Kolkata" and "Best Superspeciality Hospitals" in Kolkata. Is this the 'best' our country can offer? What the common person undergoes daily is extremely disheartening.
The medical system in Kolkata and West Bengal has always been pathetic, to say the least. There is a very callous approach among the people who matter in the health related areas, both public and private. The callousness is reflected in this ghastly tragedy. It should hardly surprise anyone as to why patients in Eastern India board the first available train to Chennai or Bangalore for any major medical problem.
Hospital authorities are least bothered about safety of the people.
All that matters to them is the money.In these private and expensive
Hospital,for every single checkup and treatment we have to pay hefty
money in advance first and if you don't have it then they cant
entertain you not even for the sake of humanity. So,ultimately where
does this much amount of money goes?? Cant they even share meager
amount of money to further enhance such indispensable safety
norms.Really it's high time govt. should take some stringent action
against such Hospitals who are not even able to adhere to mandatory
safety norms.They have no right to play with human life the most
precious thing in the world in the name of giving one.
every time such accidents occur we dont learn the lessons from it. "sab chalta hai" attitude kills!
It seems that we have not learnt any good lesson after a major fire
break at the Stephen House building, Park street area in Kolkata in
March 2010. I am unable to grasp the fact that such a reputed Hospital
AMRI does not have a fire disaster management and I feel very sorry for
this. How come we have not checked this state of affairs before?
Heart-felt condolences for those who lost their loved ones. It's high
time to introspect and take positive actions. We hope Mamata Banerjee
will take positive measures instead of getting involved in vilification.
She should realize the fact that mere creation of committees after
deaths of children or commission new units without required facilities
won't serve any purpose but gain her some cheap political mileage. There
are enough issues to gain advantage over the opposition. Forget the
rivalry and let's do the best for a better Bengal.
It again reminds us how helpless we really are in this city/state (maybe there are others that are worse but that is no consolation) – there is just nobody to ensure the minimum protection that we deserve as a citizen or shall we say, as a part of the human race, in this twenty first century – yet, politicians will get busy trying to get as much mileage from the tragedy – media (especially the local) will relay all the gory details 24 >7 – a godsend for their TRP – hospital owners / authorities, ‘heads’ they will win ‘tails’ they will win – and we will continue living ‘un-happily’ ever after – is this modernization?
A really tragic and disturbing accident indeed. Accidents do happen
and we ordinary humans as usual are helpless against nature and
accidents.But having said that., we have to admit, in our country it
is becoming a very common and shameful happening in one state or the
other time and again. Cinema house., schools etc., etc,.The reason? we
talk very high about our culture, our nation our heritage etc., but
the ground reality is we are no better than cattles,corruption has
gone deep into our blood.Every law in this land can be bend or bought
to work for us.So many agents., right from Politicians and corrupt
officials are waiting to help you just for a few bucks.It was an
accident, accepted, but surely the safety rules and stipulations which
are compulsory, would have been violated here., it has happend
before, it will happen for ever,untill the corrupt officials and
politicians who issue false no objection certificates for a few
rupees are punished.CAN WE REALLY DO THAT?
west bengal has a useless fire service, ill equipped to handle any
emegencies. AMRI is to be blamed for this fiasco but the fire services
in west bengal are no less guilty. all ppl viewing footage will vouch
that the firemen did not have proper masks and gears, even they couldnt
enter the hospital. MADAM CM, stop looking around, look within.
It would help to pay attention to upgrading the essential services like hospitals,
roads, etc. rather than spending money on beautifying Kolkata to make it look "like"
London.
Every thing linked upto corruption in India. Fire dept and muncipal corp bribed to give license to construct/run this hospital. The onwer of this hospital might be a minister or his brother-in-law. In India, we are not equipped for anything except for corruption and we give excellent speech like India shining. Why do Court take a suemoto case and suspend all officers responsibile for permission for this hospital?
I agree with Dhiraj Shetty. It is not religion or other minor matters that matter, but the living human being and his security in sickness and everyday living is to be protected.
Its really very socking news ... It must not be happen ...people have not expect this in hospital..
I wonder what has happened to the Fire Alarm & Smoke Detection System? AMRI has got into Fire trouble in 2008 and why have not they taken serious steps to prevent fire and detect fire smoke?
Maybe its time we, as country, start taking serious steps to modernize our medical, law enforcement and emergency services and facilities.And stop worrying about religion and censoring posts on Facebook, and the like.
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