All heroes don't wear capes: How alert locals and brave firefighters rescued patients from Andheri hospital blaze

However, the toll could’ve been far worse if not for alert locals and brave firefighters. When the fire first broke out at 4:20 PM, alert locals who lived in colonies near the ESIC hospital in Marol, Andheri East rushed in to help patients, scarcely caring for their lives.

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 Before the firemen could reach, a host of hospital staff, who were not on duty also stood firm in adversity and rescued stranded patients.

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As many as 108 people, including patients, were trapped inside when the fire broke out at ESIC Kamgar Hospital at Marol in suburban Andheri, an official of the Disaster Management Cell of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said.

"They were subsequently rescued from different floors by firemen using ladders," he said.

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"The building is a ground plus five-floor structure and the blaze erupted on the fourth floor," the official said.

"Fifteen injured were rushed to the Cooper Hospital, where two were declared brought dead," the official said.

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Those injured were taken to five other hospitals in the city, he said.

The deceased are yet to be identified, the official said, adding the cause of the fire was not yet known.

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The fire brigade got a call at around 4 pm about the blaze. Ten fire tenders and 15 ambulances were rushed to the spot where firefighting operations are still on.

"Most of the rescued and injured people are in stable condition," the official said.

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Fire Brigade chief P S Rahangdale said smoke engulfed the entire building and fire brigade personnel were searching all floors to see if any patient or visitor was still trapped.

He said the fire was confined to the third floor of the structure from where doctors, nurses and patients were rescued.

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"Fire fighting operation is in progress. Eight to 10 persons were rescued from the common passage that connects the hospital building to an adjacent under-construction building," he said. 

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Firefighters in action

Pic by Hemant Padalkar/DNA