The Hindu : Srirangam fire leaves kin of victims devastated

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jan 24, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Srirangam fire leaves kin of victims devastated

By R. Rajaram

TIRUCHI, JAN. 23. Shock, anxiety, sorrow, disbelief and devastation. This was the scene at the K.A.P Viswanatham Government Medical College Hospital here, where the bodies of victims of this morning's fire at a Srirangam marriage hall were brought for post mortem.

Soon after the fire, half-charred bodies started arriving at regular intervals.

Eyewitnesses said they were brought in lorries and ambulances and kept in front of the mortuary. Of the over 40 bodies brought there within a couple of hours of the blaze, quite a few were completely burnt and it was a gory sight.

Over 30 persons who sustained burns were shifted to the burns ward. A dozen others with burns were taken to nearby private hospitals.

Several of the shocked relatives were devastated and unable even to cry on seeing the charred bodies, while a few remained dazed, unable to recount what went wrong on an auspicious occasion. It took them quite some time to identify some of the bodies. Till 2.30 p.m. only 20 out of the 44 bodies brought there were identified. The crowd swelled as time passed with relatives rushing to the hospital. One of the women lost both her children in the fire at the Padmapriya Marriage Hall on E. V. Srinivasachari Road at Renga Nagar.

Half of the 33 persons, who were admitted to the Government Hospital suffered less than 50 per cent burns, the Dean, Kalavathy Ponniraivan, told the media. Those admitted to private hospitals had burns ranging from 10 to 80 per cent.

Over 100 police personnel were deployed in the Government Hospital. The police said 30 inspectors from Tiruchi, Karur and Pudukottai districts were summoned to conduct an inquest prior to the post mortem. A team of six doctors was conducting the post mortem, according to the hospital authorities.

The Superintendents of Police of Tiruchi, Karur and Pudukottai districts were all camping in the hospital. The Collector, K. Manivasan, visited the mortuary and held discussions with the hospital staff.

The Dean said that apart from regular doctors, four physicians were pressed into service. All home surgeons were mobilised and put on 24-hour duty. The hospital had enough stocks of medicine and all infrastructure.

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