Hydraulic ladders brought to douse flames at SSKM Hospital could not be used due to want of space.The ladder couldn’t be placed anywhere near sixth floor of Ronald Ross building.
Twenty fire tenders were deployed to control the major fire in the state’s premier hospital.
By afternoon everyone was evacuated from Ronald Ross building inside the SSKM hospital. Initially three tenders were sent when the fire was first noticed inside library of Ronald ross building at around 11.10 am.
The fire resulted in major snarls around the hospital area – cars were stuck between PTS and Rabindra Sadan. Soon after the news of fire spread, politicians – even police commissioner Rajiv Kumar – thronged the hospital. Kolkata’s mayor Sovan Chatterjee is also the state fire minister, was the first one to reach. He spoke to officials and told reporters, “Things are under control.” The fire has been put off, he said.”There are no casualties,” he added.
