Complete chaos at 3 hospitals

It was a chaotic day on Tuesday at several hospitals, including Ram Manohar Lohia ( RML), Safdarjung, and Lady Hardinge Hospitals, where the bereaved family members of the victims of the Karol Bagh hotel fire gheraoed the hospital authorities and demanded that the bodies be handed over so that the last rites could be performed.

Meanwhile, at the RML Hospital, where 13 bodies are kept, officials said two are beyond recognition. While two bodies are kept in Lady Harding hospital, two bodies are at BLK Hospital. Many people were clueless about the whereabouts of their relatives or whether they were dead or still alive and trapped inside the hotel.

The head of forensic department of RML Hospital said that four of the 13 bodies that reached the Delhi hospital, after the fire broke out at a hotel in Karol Bagh were burnt beyond recognition.

“It will take time to identify them. Till now, 5 bodies have been identified, of which two are female and 3 are male,” Dr Yogesh Tyagi said.

Of the 17 bodies, ten were identified — three were from Kerala, one from Gujarat, and two from Myanmar. According to officials, the other four have been identified but efforts are on to ascertain where they came from.

“We are running from one hospital to another to know about the whereabouts of my younger brother Lal Chand ( 4550 years) who worked as a supervisor at the hotel. I am worried about him. I am still clueless about his condition and whether he is dead or alive,” Tulsi Ram, a resident of Paharganj, said.

One of the deceased is an Indian Revenue Service officer Suresh Kumar ( 45) who died in the fire mishap. He was an assistant commissioner with the Income Tax department.