Hospital fire in India, 61 people died

At least 61 people died in a fire today at a hospital in the eastern Indian city of Kolkata.

The fire broke out at around 3am local time. Initial investigations suggest the fire originated in the basement of the five-storey AMRI hospital. By 9am this morning, the fire was largely under control, but smoke continued to billow from broken windows as firefighters struggled to reach patients and hospital staff trapped inside the building.

Smoke billows from AMRI hospital. Photo: AFP

AFP quoted a police official named B. Dasgupta as saying that most of the victims were patients being treated at the hospital. They died after being trapped by the fire that spread very quickly during the night. In addition to the unfortunate victims, about 60 people were rescued in the fire. "We have shifted 50 patients to another hospital nearby. The situation at the fire site is very bad at the moment," said fire chief Gopal Bhattacharya.

Forty-one bodies have been taken to a makeshift morgue at a nearby hospital. Another 20 bodies were discovered at the scene of the fire and are being removed. Fire crews are having trouble getting to the hospital, which is surrounded by a network of narrow, winding streets.

Outside the hospital, relatives of the victims gathered to watch the rescue operation. "My mother is in the intensive care unit. She is 70 years old. I don't know if she is alive or dead," said Khokon Chakravathi. Badal Sikari, a local resident who helped the medical team enter the scene of the fire, said he saw several bodies of people who appeared to have suffocated.

Rescued patients and those who escaped the fire on their own said they woke up to rooms filled with smoke that stung their eyes. “I was scared and shouted for help,” said Jyoti Chaudhary, who was admitted a week ago. “Finally, a nurse pulled me out of the room and took me to the ground floor.” Chaudhary was later taken to another nearby hospital.

Ananya, a 34-year-old woman with stitches in her abdomen after a minor surgery yesterday, said she was in the post-operative ward when the fire broke out. "I tried to go forward and climbed out through a window. I saw a lot of bodies," Ananya said.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee visited the scene of the fire and tried to calm angry relatives of the victims, who were angry at what she said was a slow response by emergency services to the blaze that broke out early this morning. Ms Banerjee promised a thorough investigation and said action would be taken if fire safety conditions at the hospital were found to be substandard.

According to VnExpress