Bhandara blaze: Bereaved families in state of disbelief

BHANDARA: Vandana Mohan Sedam (28) and Yogita Vikesh Dhurse (23) lay on the beds in a state of disbelief at primary health centre (PHC) at Pahela, about 20 kms from District General Hospital of Bhandara. Vandana, a resident of Ravanwadi village, lost her seven-day-old daughter while Yogita, a resident of Srinagar village, was bereaved of her one-day old son.
Both were handed over a cheque of Rs5 lakh each by the state government at 4.30pm.They read them, gave their acknowledgment, and kept the cheques aside before staring in infinity once again.
Vandana’s daughter was charred to death beyond recognition, while Yogita’s son was identified by the tag. “Doctors said a test was done to establish she was my daughter,” said Vandana.
Vandana’s in-laws claimed they were not informed how the death took place. “We were handed over badly-burned mortal remains around 10am,” said Kamala Sedam, Vandana’s mother-in-law. She added that they couldn’t understand if it was indeed their newly-born granddaughter. Vandana has a 5-year-old daughter.
All the 10 bodies were ferried in different ambulances to their respective villages in the district.
Both, Vandana and Yogita kept reiterating that they wanted to go and feed their babies but the doctors didn’t allow them. “Moments before the fire, I wanted to breastfeed but the doctors and nurses said no. Maybe she could have been saved if I had gone inside,” said Vandana.
As the hospital administration, cops and district officials barred media from speaking to the families on the premises, TOI could locate just two of the aggrieved mothers. While the nine parents are mourning (one baby was unknown), the other six heaved a sigh of relief.
Dinesh Maroti Khandate, a petty farmer, can only thank his stars as he was among the six fortunate parents whose babies survived the midnight horror at the district hospital.
"My wife delivered on December 22. It was a normal delivery. The same day, my twin daughters were shifted to the Sick New Born Care Unit. I didn’t see them since their birth. Since that day, my wife has been allowed to see them only for one hour every day to feed them," said Dinesh.
At 2.10am he came to know about the fire. “Smoke blew inside our room on the next floor from where the fire broke out. I went to my wife’s bed and we tried to rush down to our baby’s ward. But there was no visibility, only darkness and smoke. Staff told me to take care of my wife first. They said babies would be brought to the other ward and asked us to leave. It was under these extreme circumstances, that I saw my daughters for the first time,” he said.