Chandigarh: PGI blaze survivors recall tales of horror
Chandigarh, October 10
A day after harrowing scenes unfolded at the PGIMER when a major blaze erupted at the Nehru Hospital on the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday, tales of heroism and survival have begun to trickle in.
Preeti from Panchkula had just welcomed a baby girl around 12 midnight. Little did she know that a fire alarm would soon mar the moment of celebration in the labour room of the Obstetrics and Gynecology Department located on the third floor. Panic and thick black smoke enveloped the room, casting a shroud of fear over the new mothers and their newborns. Preeti, like many others, thought of her baby’s safety. In the midst of chaos, she tucked her newborn close.
Some Good Samaritans smashed the glass windows of the room to rescue the mother-girl duo. The steely-eyed look on their faces gave Preeti a glimmer of hope. Pregnant women and newborns were carefully evacuated from the room. For Preeti, the situation was particularly challenging. A recent surgery had left her unable to walk. Two men carried Preeti and her newborn to safety using a hydraulic crane.
Her feeling of gratitude was evident as she recounted the ordeal. “After surgery, I was not in a condition to walk. But these heroes saved me and my daughter. We spent the entire night outside on a stretcher and were shifted to a new ward in the morning,” she shared.
In total, a staggering 424 lives were saved from the menacing grasp of the inferno. Among those rescued were 351 adults, 34 patients from intensive care units (ICUs), 80 expectant mothers, 56 newborns, and 56 children. They were relocated to two different areas within the Nehru Hospital and the Nehru Hospital Extension Block.
Anil, the husband of Rani — a new mother — said, “When the fire engulfed the area around me, fear seemed to paralyse every thought. I thought we were trapped, with no way out. But then the hospital staff rushed in. They led us through the suffocating smoke and intense heat, guiding us to safety.”
Another heart-stopping account comes from Arti and her sister Kajal, who found themselves trapped in the ICU during the horrifying incident. Arti, who had recently undergone surgery for a stomach tumor, had been receiving treatment at the PGIMER for a month. The news about a fire breaking out initially did not send shivers down her spine. But as the situation escalated, panic set in. Kajal recalled the moment of despair, saying, “When nurses came to us, telling us about a fire breaking out, we assumed it was a minor one. But when we peered out of the window, we realised that we might not make it to safety.”
Faced with a predicament, the nurses provided vital emergency medicines and equipment. Brave individuals outside the ICU broke the windows, determined to rescue those trapped inside. Patients were swiftly transported to the ICU in the Nehru Hospital Extension Block, where the doctors wasted no time in assessing their condition.
