Doc trapped in Fortune Hotel blaze rescues 3 colleagues

Fire department helped 25 doctors on Covid-19 duty who were lodged at the hotel to safety; they have been relocated to Taj Mahal Palace and Trident hotels

Quick thinking by a doctor from JJ Hospital helped save three of his colleagues from the blaze that engulfed the Fortune Hotel in Dhobi Talao on Wednesday night. At least 25 doctors on Covid-19 duty at the St George Hospital and Gokuldas Tejpal Hospital were lodged at the hotel.

The fire department said its personnel had taken all 25 doctors to safety and that they have been relocated at the Taj Mahal Palace and Trident Hotel in South Mumbai.

Dr Yogeshwar Chaudhari said he was eating dinner in his room when he heard a loud blast. “At around 9.45 pm, the lights went off,” the 28-yearold doctor from Nandurbar said. “I continued to have my dinner as I am used to power outages. After five minutes, the hotel staff shouted that there was fire in the hotel.”

Chaudhari said he ran outside his room and was told that some of his colleagues were trapped on the first floor. “I went to the first floor and saw that some of the hotel employees were trying to douse the fire with an extinguisher,” he said. “I took over and made way for my colleagues to escape. One of them was Dr Manupriya from ophthalmology.”

Chaudhuri said he took another extinguisher to the second floor which was in complete darkness. “I hit the entrance grill twice but could not tolerate the smoke and had to retreat.’’

Those stuck on the second floor had locked themselves from inside. “There was a lot of smoke. A crane was sent first and later the fire brigade rescued us with angus ladders,” another doctor told Mirror. "One of the doctors suffered a broncho spasm due to the smoke.”

Kaustubh Shah, a doctor on Covid-19 duty at Gokuldas Tejpal Hospital said the fire brigade came on time. “Many of the doctors staying on the first and second floor lost their belongings in the fire,” Shah said.

Soon after the incident, environment minister Aditya Thackeray contacted the Taj Mahal Palace and Trident Hotel to arrange for accommodation for these doctors.

Chief Fire officer Prabhat Rahangdale said Chaudhari had alerted his colleagues and ensured they got to a safe space. “The staircase was on fire,” Rahangdale said. “Our men rescued nine people, who were critically trapped.

We provided a fire brigade bus to take the doctors to the Trident and Taj Mahal Palace hotels.”