Sunday’s early morning calm gave way to terror. Patients battling COVID-19 at a hotel-turned-quarantine centre were confronted with a bigger challenge — fight a blaze.
And what followed was chaos as the patients, in their anxiety to escape the fire that engulfed the rooms, cried out for help. While a few of them, according to the passers-by, jumped off the first and second floors of the building, injuring themselves in the process, many others fell unconscious in the rooms.
The fire occurred at Hotel Swarna Palace, which was taken on lease by Ramesh Hospitals for running the COVID-19 care centre. About 30 patients and 10 staff members were in the centre at the time of the accident.
The firemen, the police and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel used ladders to reach the windows, broke them open and rescued the patients with the help of stretchers.
Rescuers’ dilemma
As the family members of the patients were not available, there was nobody to identify the victims. Being a dedicated COVID care centre, the rescue personnel were in a dilemma as they did not know where to shift the patients.
Speaking to The Hindu , NDRF 10th Battalion Commandant Zahid Khan said that 25 personnel were deployed with PPE kits and life-saving equipment to rescue the patients.
“We rescued a few patients and brought them out of the hotel. But there was no clarity on where to shift them. There are no attendants to take of the patients either,” said an NDRF team member who took part in the rescue operation.
“Already, the patients have respiratory problems. On top of it, thick smoke engulfed the air-conditioned rooms. Consequently, they fell unconscious,” said a police officer. “Though the police and firemen have no PPE kits, they did not hesitate to rescued the patients and shift them to other hospitals,” said Sitaram Babu, a passer-by.
Heart-rending scenes
Heart-rending scenes were witnessed at the quarantine centre when the family members of the victims were seen enquiring with the officials about the welfare of their dear ones. The hospital staff denied them entry as the victims were COVID-19 patients.
“A few patients fell unconscious after inhaling the smoke. We brought them out of the hotel and rushed them to different hospitals. A few other patients succumbed to the burns. Some patients were asphyxiated because of the thick smoke,” a fire officer said.
Home Minister M. Sucharitha, Deputy Chief Minister Alla Kali Krishna Srinivas, I&PR Minister Perni Venkataramaiah, Endowments Minister V. Srinivas, and MP Mopidevi Venkata Ramana rushed to the spot to monitor the rescue operations.
“We are trying to identify the patients who died in the accident,” said Police Commissioner B. Srinivasulu.
List of deceased
The dead have been identified as S. Raja Kumari from Jaggaiahpet in Krishna district, Majji Gopi from Machilipatnam, M. Ramesh from Vijayawada, D. Venkata Suvarchala Devi from Kandukur in Prakasam district, D. Pavan Kumar from Prakasam district, P. Purnachander Rao from Krishna district, D. Siva Brahmaiah from Machilipatnam, S. Babu Rao from Vijayawada, K. Suvarna Latha from Nidubrolu in Guntur district and S. Abraham, native of Jaggaiahpet, said the officials.
