Kamala Mills fire: From hospital beds, survivors recount horror

MUMBAI: Suffocation and not burn injuries was the cause behind most of the deaths in the Kamala Mills compound fire, according to the survivors undergoing treatment at civic hospitals here. "When fire broke out at the '1Above' pub, we rushed to exit the place but there was a stampede as the exit gate was narrow," a survivor admitted to the KEM hospital said. "I suffered 20 per cent burns, while my cousin suffered 35 per cent burns," he said. Another survivor, S Arora, said she and her group of friends, who were at the pub, noticed a small fire. "Within moments, the entire rooftop, where the pub was located, was engulfed in flames," she said. "As the fire broke out, most of the people locked themselves in the washroom of the restaurant to esacpe the blaze. "The smoke must have gone to their nose and mouth. Thus, the cause of death was suffocation and not burn injuries," Harish Pathak, the head of the forensic department at the KEM hospital said. "Most of the victims had died before reaching the hospital," he said, adding the bodies were handed over to their family members and relatives after post-mortem. The mortuary and the forensics department area of the KEM hospital saw anxious relatives of the victims scampering to know the status of their kin. While some fought back tears, others gave into the pain of losing their loved ones.