Flood of victims sparks chaos at hospitals

SODEPUR: Confusion on ground zero, and chaos at hospitals. That summed up Friday's fire in which 12 persons were killed and 30 seriously injured " a tragedy that could have been avoided.
There was chaos at Panihati State General Hospital as ambulances and sundry vehicles unloaded the fire victims. Being just a kilometre away from Readymade Centre Private Limited, this was the first stop for most of the patients rushed here.Six were pronounced dead while four were shifted to SSKM Hospital in critical condition.
Local people and relatives of the dead and the injured also rushed to the hospital thinking all the victims had been taken here. There was utter confusion for some time. People wailing, screaming, asking for directions. Some left for other hospitals after police told them where their relatives had been taken. Others broke down after learning that their kin had died.
A nervous Debraj Ray reached the hospital soon after learning about the fire. His father Bimalendu (61) was a friend of Jibon Saha, co-owner of the showroom, and had gone to visit him. "I called up my father on his mobile. When there was no response I knew something was wrong," he said.
"I kept praying all the way to the hospital. My father was the kind of person who would not harm even a fly. How could he die like this!" said an inconsolable Debraj.
Belghoria resident Pulakesh Deb (45) had been employed at the shop for over a decade and had never been late. On Friday, too, he left home at 9.30 am. "His wife fell unconscious when she heard about the incident. How can I go and tell her that her husband is no more. They have a five-year-old daughter," said Pulakesh's maternal uncle Pradip Dey who identified the body.
Relatives of some of the victims claimed more lives could have been saved had there been proper medical facility at the hospital. Doctors said they did whatever they could to save the victims. "All the patients were brought in between 1 pm and 2 pm. The condition of four was critical. We did not want to take any risk and shifted them to SSKM hospital," said emergency medical officer S R Santara.
The condition of co-owner Narayan Saha and his son Shankar is stable. The duo along with two other victims " Kajol Dutta and Amrita Lal Saha " are admitted to the ICCU of a polyclinic in Kamarhati. "They have regained consciousness but they are not in a condition to speak," said hospital general manager Asish Mukherjee.