Ahmedabad fire: Devasted family members narrate tale of shock and grief

"Only Yesterday night we had a video chat with my sister-in-law and we discussed that she should be out of the ICU ward in a day or two. She had tested negative for the coronavirus. Hours later on Thursday morning, we watched in horror about the incident on TV news. We didn't get a single call from the hospital authority. The whole family is devastated," said brother-in-law of Jyoti Sindhi, 55, outside the postmortem building at civil hospital while breaking down repeatedly in grief and trying to console his brother Vishnu, the victim's husband.

Jyoti Sindhi, a resident of Kheralu in Mehsana district, was one of the eight victims who were killed in the fire incident at Shrey Hospital in Ahmedabad early Thursday morning. As the news broke on TV channels, the shocked family members rushed to the hospitals from different corners battling tears and anger. There were scenes of relatives breaking down in anger and screaming to see their loved ones. The families of all victims complained that they were not informed by the hospital authority.

"We didn't know anything. She had been tested negative and was to be shifted to a special ward for further treatment," said Saad Kazi, a relative of Ayesha Tirmizi, 51. Wife of advocate Sohail Tirmizi, Ayesha had been admitted to this hospital some two weeks ago and had tested negative after covid-19 treatment. Her relatives said that she was to be shifted to a special ward for further treatment in a day or two since she had comorbid conditions.

In the incident, a father-son duo identified as Navneet Shah, 80, and Narendra, 61, also died. The relatives said that the father had been admitted to the hospital some two weeks ago while the son was admitted only ten days back. Their relative Arvind Shah said the Shahs are from Dholka town in Ahmedabad district.

The death of 42-year-old Arif Mansuri, a resident of Sarkhej in Ahmedabad, has left his family devastated as he was the only earning member. His friend Sabir Luhar, who had come to the hospital, said that Arif was first admitted to civil hospital but seeing the poor condition, he got himself admitted to Shrey. "He borrowed money from many people and had already paid Rs 3.5 lakh. The family is not only in shock but also in debt."

Arif's family members didn't come to the hospital. Luhar told DH that "One of his brothers came to the graveyard for the last rites later in the day after the postmortem was completed." According to officials at civil hospital, where the post mortem was conducted, the dead body of two victims were handed over to their relatives for last rites while six others were cremated as per the Covid-19 protocol.