AUTHORITIES India yesterday disclosed that six hospital managers arrested on negligence charges are in custody for questioning after a hospital blaze killed 91 people in eastern part of the country.
The Cable News Network (CNN) reported that the six managers that worked at a five-storey Kolkata hospital that erupted into flames at 4 a.m., were sent by a local court to 10-day in police custody.
However, a popular anti-corruption activist, Anna Hazare, ramped up pressure on India‘s government for strong measures to fight graft by staging a brief symbolic fast yesterday in the capital.
The CNN showed the scene of the fire as crowds of people wearing face masks rushed patients out onto the street in stretchers.
About 60 other people were injured, said Javed Ahmed Khan, the West Bengal Fire and Emergency Services minister.
A “majority” of the bed-ridden patients were abandoned by most of the staff on duty, he said.
The blaze started in the hospital’s basement, and authorities were trying to determine its cause.
A preliminary investigation showed that the hospital had safety violations in the basement, Khan said.
In addition to using the basement as an oncology department, it was also being used to park cars and house medical supplies, Khan said. The hospital’s licence has been revoked.
Surrounded by thousands of flag-waving supporters, Hazare held a seven-hour fast to demand sweeping legislation to end India’s culture of corruption, in which bribes are paid for everything from health care to marriage certificates, the Associated Press (AP) reported.
“My fast has begun. I will not speak much now,” Hazare told his cheering fans gathered around the stage where he sat with about a dozen politicians discussing the bill.
Later, he told the politicians they could take protests “to the streets” if the government rejects their suggestions in drafting a strong bill.
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