Noida Metro Hospital fire:Onlookers say hydraulic ladder failed, fire officials deny claim

Aman Sharma, deputy director of fire services, said the hydraulic machines were not used since the hospital building was not tall enough.

The rescue operation following a fire at Noida’s Metro Hospitals& Heart Institute that began around 12.30pm with the fire services rushing to the spot with a hydraulic ladder and five to six fire tenders, soon turned chaotic as the personnel started breaking open windowpanes and temporary tin sheds to rescue patients mostly lodged on the third and fourth floor of the five storey building.

Onlookers maintained that the fire officials decided to break the windows after the hydraulic ladder allegedly failed to work, fire department officials said they had brought the ladder just as a precautionary measure. (Sunil Ghosh / HT Photo)

While onlookers maintained that the fire officials decided to break the windows after the hydraulic ladder allegedly failed to work, fire department officials said they had brought the ladder just as a precautionary measure.

Aman Sharma, deputy director of fire services, said the hydraulic machines were not used since the hospital building was not tall enough. “We had brought the hydraulic machine as a precautionary measure but we did not use it since it is needed only in cases of fire in high-rises where we need to evacuate people from the top floors. It is untrue that the hydraulic machine failed to work,” Sharma said. The Gautam Budh Nagar Fire Services had recently bought two fire hydraulic ladder lifts to combat fire by using an elevated platform in high-rises of Noida and Greater Noida.

Meanwhile, a heavy cloud of smoke engulfed the staircase which made it difficult for the rescuers to climb up in order to evacuate those inside the building. “We rushed to the 4th floor of the building to rescue our relative who was admitted but we could not enter due to heavy smoke. We saw that many people had broken windowpanes in order to create ventilation and rescue people,” said Arun Kasana, a resident of Baghpat.

“We cleared the staircase by breaking windowpanes and tin sheds and then rescued people from there by using ropes. The hydraulic machine was not needed in the operation,” said Sharma.

“Our staff worked together with police to rescue patients under 45 minutes and nobody was injured in the process. We suspect that there might be foul play behind the occurrence of fire,” said Chhaya Malhotra, spokesperson, Metro Hospital.

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