SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad, Jan 28: Five persons including eminent gynaecologist couple Dr Vikash Hazra(75) his wife Dr Prema Hazra and three others died from asphyxiation in a fire which broke out in the store room of their Arti Memorial nursing home under Telephone Exchange Road under Bank More police station on late night of Friday.
The senior officers of district administration and police said that the fire was spotted at around 2 am in the second-floor based store room. The fire later spread to the first floor based residential side and Dr Hazra and others could not be able to come out.
Six firefighting teams reached the spot and rescued the admitted patients from the nursing homes. All five were found unconscious in their rooms and later they were declared dead. One person Sunil Mandal has been admitted to a private hospital.
No admitted patient in the nursing home received any injury in the incident.
Besides Dr Hazra couple of other deceased were identified as Sohan Khamari ( nephew of Dr Hazra), Tara Devi ( domestic help). The name of 5th deceased who had come from the Hugli district of Bengal is yet to be identified.
The pet dog of Dr Hazra also died in the incident.
Getting information, Dhanbad SDM Prem Kumar Tiwari, deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Arvind Kumar Sinha and Bank More police station officer-in-charge PK Singh reached the spot and began an investigation.
Dr Hazra’s Arti Hazra Memorial Nursing home is also on his residential premises. The Storeroom is based between the residence and the nursing home.
“Prima facie it looks fire broke out in the store room from a short circuit. The investigation is being done and the deceased are being identified,” said SDM Prem Kumar Tiwari.
Samir Hazra, brother of Dr Vikash Hazra said that Saraswati Puja was celebrated on a large scale on Thursday. Their relatives and people of the native village of Nadia district of Bengal had also come on the occasion.
Dr Hazra was the senior most gynaecologist in the state and his nursing home is considered the oldest one in Dhanbad.
