Tiruchi-based senior dental surgeon S. Sankaranarayanan, 55, is among the victims of the fire accident at Hotel Arpit Palace in New Delhi on Tuesday.
Confirming his death, a family member said the doctor’s wife Bharathi identified his body in Ram Monohar Lohiya Hospital on Wednesday. Bharathi and her daughter air-dashed to New Delhi after receiving an alert from a colleague, who had tried in vain to contact him since Tuesday afternoon.
Since Dr. Sankaranarayanan’s mobile was not reachable, his colleague had contacted the hotel and ascertained that he was one among those had died in the fire. Dr. Sankaranarayanan is said to have died of suffocation after fire engulfed the hotel.
Belonging to Kumaran Nagar in Tiruchi, Dr. Sankaranarayanan had been running a dental clinic for about 20 years besides offering consultation at a leading hospital in Tiruchi. He is survived by wife, a son and a daughter.
According to his colleague V.R. Ravi, orthopaedic surgeon, Dr. Sankaranarayanan checked in to the hotel on Monday night and was scheduled to meet the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) on Friday to seek clearance for a product.
Dr. Sankaranarayanan had been a Director of Mothercell Regenerative Centre Pvt Ltd. He was into stem cell research since 2012. The company had patented the product. He, along with Dr. Ravi, met Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman when she visited Tiruchi recently to demonstrate the military applications of their product.
