Three victims of Kandivali fire succumbed to injuries, three critical

Four days after a catering services shop in Akurli caught fire due to a gas leak, three of the seven victims succumbed to their injuries on Sunday, and three others are in a critical condition

Mumbai: Four days after a catering services shop in Akurli caught fire due to a gas leak, three of the seven victims, Poonam Gautam, 28, Raksha Joshi, 47, and Neetu Gupta 31, succumbed to their injuries on Sunday.

On September 24, as the six workers at Shivani catering services along with the owner Shivani Gandhi, began their usual day at work, a gas leak from one of the cylinders set the place on fire at 9am. (Photo by Satish Bate/ Hindustan Times) (Hindustan Times)

After the fire was doused, the injured were admitted to ESIS hospital and Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar hospital in Kandivali. From there, two of them were transferred to a private hospital in Borivali, one to Kasturba Hospital, and three others were taken to the National Burns Centre (NBC).

Gautam was initially admitted to a private hospital in Borivali and then transferred to the NBC a day later. “The initial hours after the incident were crucial. By the time we received her, infections had already started developing. She was not in a stable condition to be operated upon and succumbed to her injuries on Sunday noon,” said Dr Sunil Keswani, director of NBC.

Along with Gautam, another victim, Durga Gupta, 30, was also transferred to NBC later, and remains in a critical state. Keswani said they would operate on her once her condition stabilises, but the chances were slim, he admitted.

Raksha Joshi, 47, admitted to Kasturba hospital, was declared dead at 5:30am on Sunday. “We proceeded with the treatment as per the standard operating procedure, but the 95% burns on her body were too deep,” said an official from Kasturba hospital. The official added that they have sent the body for a postmortem to assess the cause of death.

The other three victims, Shivani Gandhi, 51, Neetu Gupta, 31, and Janaki Gupta, 39, underwent their first surgery last week. Neetu, who was scheduled to undergo the next stage of surgery on Monday, succumbed to her injuries on Sunday evening. Keswani explained that since their burns were covering 80%-90% of their body, only a third of the burnt dead cells could be removed and replaced in the surgery at a time using the skin from skin bank. Due to this, their surgeries have been planned in three stages, with the second stage to be completed next week.

Manaram Kumacat, the cook, sustained only 40% burns. “Kumacat doesn’t require surgery. He will be treated with medicines and is likely to be discharged soon,” Keswani said.

On September 24, as the six workers at Shivani catering services along with the owner Shivani Gandhi, began their usual day at work, a gas leak from one of the cylinders set the place on fire at 9am. The fire was doused off in about half an hour, and the shop which operated from a chawl in Akurli is still being investigated by the Mumbai Fire Brigade for operating without a valid fire non-objection certificate (NOC).