Bhavin Shah, a patient at Shrey Hospital who informed the fi re brigade, recounts in horror what happened that night
The grief and pain of those who lost their loved ones in the
massive blaze is indescribable. However, the horror that ensued at the Covid-designated hospital has lef t scars for survivors as well.
Mirror spoke to
Paldi resident
Bhavin Shah who bravely fought the fire in its initial stages and his timely help saved many other patients who were also being treated for Covid-19 at the hospital.
The 45-year-old garment trader was being treated for Covid-19 along with three other family members in ward 411 of Shrey Hospital.
Currently admitted to the 9th floor of
SVP Hospital, Shah said that the first clue regarding the fire wasn’t the
smoke or the smell, it was a burning man running down the corridor. Shah was unable to sleep on the intervening night of August 5 and 6, so he was watching a web series on a streaming site. Suddenly, he heard screams followed by a burning man running down the corridor just a few feet away from him.
The man was later identified by authorities as Gaurav Chauhan, a
paramedical staff member whose PPE had caught fire while he tried to fight the blaze inside the ICCU to save the critical patients. He is currently admitted with burn injuries at SVP.
Shah immediately got out of his bed and ran to the bathroom. “I put on a tap to fill water and help out the man who was burning outside. However, by the time I took the bucket out, he was nowhere to be seen,” he said. As he tried to wake up others in the ward including his family members – his sister, brother-inlaw and their son – he saw that the corridor was filling up with dense smoke.
“Within seconds, there was so much smoke, that we couldn’t see anything at all,” said Shah. He then called the
fire department emergency helpline. He banged against the wall and elevator as he and his family members got down in zero visibility in the dense
smog.
They were evacuated from there to SVP Hospital by hospital staff and firefighters.
In Photos: Fire at Navrangpura’s Shrey Hospital claims 8 lives; investigations underway
Fire at a private hospital claims 8 lives
Five male and three female COVID-19 patients died after a fire broke out on the fourth floor of Shrey Hospital, in Navrangpura, in the wee hours of Thursday. A preliminary probe revealed that it was caused by a short circuit. 49 patients were admitted to the hospital for COVID-19 treatment. 41 of them were shifted to other hospitals following the tragic incident. Photo by Ancela Jamindar/BCCL
What was their fault?
The deceased have been identified as Lilavati Shah (72), Jyoti Sindhi (55), Ayesha Tirmizi (51), Navneet Shah (80), Arif Mansoori (42), Narendra Shah (62), Arvind Bhavsar (78) and Manu Rami (82). Their bodies have been moved to the post-mortem section of the forensic medicine department at Ahmedabad Civil Hospital. Photo by Ancela Jamindar/BCCL
Fire-hit floor was illegal
The building of Shrey Hospital had been functioning with several irregularities for almost two decades. While its construction plan was approved, it was only in the year 2016 that the hospital paid Rs 90 lakh as an impact fee to get all its additional constructions regularised. These include the fourth floor where the fire broke out and the canteen. Chaitanya Shah, Deputy Town Development officer of the Estate Department of the West zone of AMC, said, “The building was regularised in 2016 after payment of impact fee.” Currently, the hospital has been sealed for investigation. It is one of the 60-odd designated private hospitals which have been authorised by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation to treat coronavirus patients. Photo by Ancela Jamindar/BCCL
Quick fire-fighting response
Fire department officials said that a call was made to the control room at 3.10 am and the first firefighting vehicles reached the spot within the next three minutes. In total, about 15-17 firefighting vehicles and an equivalent number of firemen led by three officers were deployed to fight the fire. “When the firemen reached the fourth floor of the hospital, there was zero visibility due to the dense smog. Even with breathing apparatus, firemen could barely breach the ICCU. There was no ventilation for the smoke to go as the windows were sealed,” a fire official said. A fireman was then deployed to the outside of the building with a turntable ladder. It was only after he broke the windows from the exterior that firemen could venture inside. Photo by Ancela Jamindar/BCCL
Broken hearts
The grief and pain of those who lost their loved ones in the massive blaze is indescribable. Emotions ran high as relatives of the deceased could not bear the loss of their loved ones. Heartbroken after the loss of their relatives, some of them vented their anger against the hospital authorities outside the hospital in Navrangpura. Photo by Ancela Jamindar/BCCL
Eye-witness recalls the horror
The incident has also left scars for survivors. Paldi resident Bhavin Shah, who was also admitted to the hospital, alerted the fire brigade about the blaze. Recounting the horror, he said that the first clue regarding the fire wasn’t the smoke or the smell, but it was a burning man running down the corridor, just a few feet away from him. The man was later identified by authorities as a paramedical staff member whose PPE had caught fire while he tried to fight the blaze inside the ICCU to save the critical patients. He is currently admitted with burn injuries at SVP Hospital. Photo by Ancela Jamindar/BCCL
PM expresses grief
Meanwhile, the Centre and Gujarat government have announced a cumulative compensation of Rs 6 lakh each for the families of the deceased. Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed grief over the incident and announced ex-gratia compensation of Rs 2 lakh for the kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 for the injured. Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani also announced a compensation of Rs 4 lakh for the kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 for the injured. Photo by Ancela Jamindar/BCCL
Not the first incident of its kind
Six incidents of fire in public and private hospitals have been reported in Ahmedabad in the last 16 months, including the one at Shrey Hospital. There was a minor fire in the air conditioning system in an operation theatre of the Institute of Kidney Diseases and Research Centre (IKDRC) on June 29, 2020. On July 30, 2019, the electricity meter located in the lone passageway of Samarpan Hospital in Thaltej caught fire. An air conditioner unit on the third floor of VS Hospital caught fire on July 2, 2019, due to a short circuit. There was a major fire at Apple Super-Specialty Children’s Hospital on May 13, 2019, and a fire broke out on the third floor of Ahmedabad Civil Hospital on April 7, 2019. Photo by Ancela Jamindar/BCCL
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