Kin of Govind Lal struggled before finding him a bed at Sunrise Hospital, which they say ignored the fire alarms on the evening the fire broke out
Govind Lal Das and his wife Munni
I am feeling fine, I’ll get well soon and come back completely healthy.” These were the last words of Govind Lal Das, 70, hours before the fire broke out at Dreams Mall on Thursday night. The family had a harrowing experience searching for Das the next morning, and are now left with several unanswered questions.
The family learnt about the fire after a message was posted on a WhatsApp group of Dreams Towers where Das’s daughter Arpana and her husband Prateek Sharma lived. Das is survived by his wife Munni and four children -- Priyanka, Arpana, Archana and youngest son Ashish. Bhandup police have recorded the statement of two of his children. Munni is yet to come out of shock.
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They lived with Ashish in Thane and tested positive for Coronavirus on March 8, said Sharma, a Chartered Accountant. Das had mild fever but we still admitted him to Highland Hospital in Thane for better care and faster recovery, he said. Doctors said his lungs had mild infection and started the treatment. “Munni was also admitted in the same hospital. They were discharged about a week later. Doctors asked us to continue the medicine and keep them in home quarantine for a week.”
“On the night of March 20, my father complained of weakness and felt giddy and his blood pressure fell. We decided to admit him again, and approached Highland Hospital but they had run out of COVID-19 beds. We contacted other hospitals in Thane, but were asked to bring his negative RT-PCR report, but we wanted to admit him immediately,” said Ashish.
“We took him to COVID Centre at Balkum, Thane, on March 21. However, the treatment didn’t start within 18-20 hours of admission. Doctors and staff were not very supportive. I called Sunrise Hospital on March 22 and got a bed,” said Arpana, who is married to Sharma.
At Sunrise Hospital
We admitted him around afternoon and insisted for his RT-PCR test so that he could be kept in non-COVID-19 ward, Sharma said. But his swabs were collected only around 9 pm and could be sent only the next day, Sharma said.
“There was a scarcity of employees at Sunrise Hospital, which also lacked basic hygiene and safety protocols. We decided to shift him to a reputed hospital once his report came back negative. He also had lung infection and developed some chest pain, he added.
“The report came back negative on March 24, but the hospital kept him in COVID ICU for two days, as they did not have a ward for non-COVID patients. And the fire broke out on March 25.”
‘Fire alarms were ignored’
Sharma said, “Archana visited Sunrise Hospital for a few hours on the fateful evening, and the fire alarm rang three to four times around 7.30 pm. She alerted the staff, but was told to ignore them. Had the authorities taken the alarms seriously and acted immediately, lives would have been saved.” Sharma said they learnt about the fire around 5 am on March 26 and frantically searched for him in nearby hospitals, as the patients were moved to other facilities.
He was at Mulund hospital
“After a long search, we learnt that some patients were also taken to BMC-run Agarwal hospital in Mulund. Archana and Ashish rushed there, but it was too late. He had already been declared dead.
Hospital staff told them that my father-in-law was brought around 2 am. He collapsed 15-20 minutes after arriving there. He passed away at 3 am. Not sure what treatment was given to him. The hours between the evacuation and his death would remain a mystery now,” Sharma said. “His autopsy was done on March 26 at Rajawadi post-mortem centre, where the provisional cause of death was given as ‘death due to suffocation’,” Sharma said, adding that Das had no burns on the body.
“Many unanswered questions about this unfortunate incident, like, why was there a delay in his test, why were the fire alarms ignored, why no one intimated the family about the fire, was his medical history given to Agarwal Municipality Hospital, what medication was given to him at Agarwal and why didn’t the BMC have definite information about his whereabouts?” Sharma said, adding that why wasn’t Das, a heart patient, shifted to a hospital specialised in heart treatment.
“For us, this is a clear case of homicide. Ultimately, we lose our family members due to carelessness of the hospital and government authorities,” he added. On Sunday, Ashish and Archana were called at Bhandup police station to record their statements, which would be used as a part of the FIR. A police officer at Bhandup police station said, “We have registered a case under Sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) against the hospital directors and other staff including the mall developers HDIL, and our investigations are underway.”
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