Bhandup fire: Kids’ harrowing experience finding their dad and losing him forever

I am feeling fine Irsquoll get well soon and come back completely healthyrdquo 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 questionsThe family learnt about the fire after a message was posted on a WhatsApp group of Dreams Towers where Dasrsquos 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 shockThey 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 ldquoMunni 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 weekrdquoldquoOn 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 COVID19 beds We contacted other hospitals in Thane but were asked to bring his negative RTPCR report but we wanted to admit him immediatelyrdquo said AshishldquoWe took him to COVID Centre at Balkum Thane on March 21 However the treatment didnrsquot start within 1820 hours of admission Doctors and staff were not very supportive I called Sunrise Hospital on March 22 and got a bedrdquo said Arpana who is married to SharmaAt Sunrise HospitalWe admitted him around afternoon and insisted for his RTPCR test so that he could be kept in nonCOVID19 ward Sharma said But his swabs were collected only around 9 pm and could be sent only the next day Sharma saidldquoThere 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 addedldquoThe 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 nonCOVID patients And the fire broke out on March 25rdquolsquoFire alarms were ignoredrsquoSharma said ldquoArchana visited Sunrise Hospital for a few hours on the fateful evening and the fire alarm rang three to four times around 730 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 savedrdquo 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 facilitiesHe was at Mulund hospitalldquoAfter a long search we learnt that some patients were also taken to BMCrun Agarwal hospital in Mulund Archana and Ashish rushed there but it was too late He had already been declared deadHospital staff told them that my fatherinlaw was brought around 2 am He collapsed 1520 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 nowrdquo Sharma said ldquoHis autopsy was done on March 26 at Rajawadi postmortem centre where the provisional cause of death was given as lsquodeath due to suffocationrsquordquo Sharma said adding that Das had no burns on the bodyldquoMany 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 didnrsquot the BMC have definite information about his whereaboutsrdquo Sharma said adding that why wasnrsquot Das a heart patient shifted to a hospital specialised in heart treatmentldquoFor us this is a clear case of homicide Ultimately we lose our family members due to carelessness of the hospital and government authoritiesrdquo 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 ldquoWe 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 underwayrdquo