Khar Danda Fire: NBC doctors waive off fees, surgery charges

Doctors at National Burns Centre in Mumbai have waived off their fees and surgery charges for the victims of a gas leak fire in Khar Danda, as relatives struggle to gather funds for their treatment. The Jaiswal family, including a five-year-old child, sustained severe burn injuries in the blaze, caused by a suspected gas leak. The victims are expected to remain in hospital for six to eight weeks.

Mumbai: Doctors at National Burns Centre, Airoli, treating the victims of the Khar Danda gas leak fire, have waived off their fee and surgery charges even as relatives continue to struggle to gather funds for the treatment of the members of the Jaiswal family.

Khar Danda Fire: NBC doctors waive off fees, surgery charges

The Jaiswals — Sakubai (65), Sunil (29), Priyanka (25) and Pratham (5) along with their relatives Viyeshka Chavan (7) and Nikita Mahadik (26) — had sustained severe burn injuries in a fire caused by suspected gas leakage at Jaiswal’s one-plus-one chawl residence in Khar Danda, Bandra, on Monday.

While Sakubai sustained 87% burn injuries, both the children suffered 60% burns. Sunil, Priyanka and Nikita have 32%, 44% and 49% burn injuries respectively.

“They are paying for medicines and consumables. We as a hospital are not charging them doctors’ fee, surgery fee,” said Dr Sunil Keswani, medical director of NBC.

A team of doctors at NBC operated on Nikita, Priyanka on May 16 and Pratham and Viyeshka on Wednesday, wherein they removed the dead tissues and performed skin grafting by using the cadaver skin from the skin bank.

“They have deep burns. This is a crucial surgery. We are giving them a fighting chance by removing the dead tissues. They might require another surgery after a week. The status of the wound will be checked and accordingly, the next surgery will be decided,” said Dr Keswani.

He added Sunil will be operated upon on Thursday, but Sakubai’s percentage of burns remains high and will not be operated on now.

Dr Keswani said, the victims are expected to stay in the hospital for six to eight weeks. “They are stable but remain critical. All are conscious. Sakubai and Nikita are on ventilator,” he said.

Meanwhile, Sagar Tike, Sunil’s brother-in-law, said they have spent around ₹3.25 lakh. “We have exhausted our savings and are now getting in touch with money lenders,” he said.

Sunil’s family and his two sisters — Anita and Sunita’s family — had celebrated Mother’s Day with their mother Sakubai on Sunday evening. While Anita and Sunita’s family returned home, Anita’s daughter Viyeshka stayed back at Sunil’s house along with Nikita, a relative. On Monday morning, all six sustained severe burn injuries after a suspected gas leak led to a fire.

They were initially taken to Bhabha Hospital where they were kept in the intensive care unit. Later in the afternoon, Pratham and Viyeshka were shifted to the burns ward in BMC’s Kasturba Hospital in Mumbai Central and Sakubai, Nikita, Sunil and Priyanka were shifted to NBC, Airoli in the evening.

Sunil worked as a contractual DJ while his wife Priyanka and mother-Sakubai worked as house help and Nikita worked in a beauty parlour. Tike, along with four other members, including Viyeshka’s mother Anita, plan to stay in the hospital as long as the victims are admitted there.