Wednesday, December 14, 2011


AMRI toll rises to 91, six directors remanded to police custody

PTI Dec 10, 2011, 08.14pm IST
KOLKATA: Slapped with charges of negligence and culpable homicide, six arrested directors of the super speciality AMRI hospital were today remanded to police custody for 10 days as one more patient died in Friday's fire tragedy taking the toll to 91.
Six of the seven arrested directors of the hospital, were remanded to 10-days police custody by the Chief Judicial Magistrate of the Alipur court, S M Shahnawaz.

AMRI fire: High drama as Mamata Banerjee visits hospital

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KOLKATA: The Dhakuria unit of AMRI Hospital shut down on Tuesday hours after high drama. Earlier in the day, chief minister Mamata Banerjee ran into a wave of protest during an unannounced visit to the AMRI Hospital.

Panicked by rumours of an impending closure, the hospital staff rushed at Mamata demanding rehabilitation. The CM lost her temper when the crowd tried to break her security cordon, and shouted: "You don't know me! I will slap you and bring you back to your senses. So many people have lost their lives here and you are creating a ruckus!" The hospital employees beat journalists after Mamata left and blocked Dhakuria bridge, triggering a fistfight with residents of the nearby Panchanantala slum.

In the evening, the government asked AMRI Dhakuria not to take any new patients. The hospital management immediately issued a notice, saying that the "atmosphere was not conducive to run a hospital". Last Friday, soon after the last body was brought out of the hospital, Mamata had announced that the licence of the hospital would be cancelled. On Monday, rumours started circulating that the management was considering folding up its operations in Dhakuria. This led to panic among the employees.

The CM accused the hospital management of "instigating the staff to start this agitation". "Why else would they ask us for jobs so soon after the tragedy? It is the hospital management that should take care of them. If they have some appeal to make to the government, this is not the way. I have come to know that the management has got some patients to sign a petition that they are satisfied with the facilities at AMRI in return for waiving their medical bills," she said.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRk_y9uVNN8



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0voQjJrJAQ