After fire,the fury

Dealing in computer hardware and web page designing,Microsis Technical Enterprise was inaugurated on January 27. The eight victims had put in one-two months of service,were 20-25 years of age,and earned between Rs 6,000 and Rs 10,000 a month.

Phulchand Bharati,one of the partners in the company,is completely shattered. “I have lost everything,including eight of our employees — five boys and three girls,” he said.

Bharati and 20 other colleagues managed to escape by breaking down a bathroom gate and using ropes to reach the third floor.

“Had they not gone towards the staircase and lift but come with us,they would have been saved,” said Bharati,who spent Wednesday trying to identify the bodies of his employees at SSKM Hospital.

From 18-year-old Bhagyashri Dhali to 25-year-old Rajendra Nath Samanta,several young professionals working in call centres and other private offices died in the heritage building fire. Apart from Microsis Enterprise,Wintek Technologies and Rawals and Sons also lost many employees.

Samanta had joined Wintek on March 1 and was set to get married to Sunita Saha. “He called me at 2.30 pm and said he would be going out for lunch… Then his phone was unreachable. Finally,at 4 pm I realised that there had been a massive fire in the building,” said an inconsolable Saha,waiting in front of the morgue at SSKM Hospital. She had just identified him through the wrist watch he wore.

Thirty-year-old Vivek Upadhyay,a call centre employee,was one of the first victims. He jumped off his office on the fifth floor in a desperate bid to save his life and died of multiple injuries. Upadhyay lived on South Kolkata’s Panditiya Road and got married only three years back.

“He had a family business,but he wanted to do something on his own,” said Upadhyay’s wife. The 17 bodies found in a pile on the sixth floor,next to the door leading to the terrace,were so badly burnt that it was difficult to tell men and women apart.

“I have not seen such a fire,with so many bodies piled at one place,in my entire career of 29 years,” said Gopal Bhattacharya,Director,Fire and Emergency Services.

“How can I identify my son?” wailed Kusum Gupta,whose 22-year-old son Amit is yet to be found. A final-year BCA student,Amit had joined the call centre just a few days ago.

At SSKM Hospital,other relatives were going through the bodies,trying to identify their near and dear ones by pieces of jewellery,watches or the colour of their dress.

In one corner,Ruhi Parveen and Pampa Chaterjee stood arguing,trying to lay claim to the same body on the basis of a ring and a chain.