Daijiworld Media Network - Mumbai

Mumbai, Mar 27: Despite a desperate search by relatives for Ashok Waghmare (69) in seven hospitals, there was no mention of him on the patients' list. They heaved a big sigh of relief when his elder daughter Dr Smita Somani found that her father was not among those who had passed away after identifying the bodies at the mortuary of Rajawadi Hospital.

But the relief was short-lived as Waghmare's body was discovered on the third floor of Sunrise Hospital around 4.00 pm. He was the last person to be found by the fire brigade officials.

“My father was probably left there to die. We don’t think anyone even tried to rescue him,” said the doctor daughter. She called for the strictest of punishment against those responsible. “I lost my father, but I don’t want anybody else to go through this,” she said, fighting tears. The family had shifted him to Sunrise only on Thursday after they thought he was not getting adequate attention at Nair Hospital in Mumbai Central. “My father had no burns or injuries. He died of suffocation.”

A major fire had broken out at Sunrise Hospital, a Covid care facility that left nearly nine persons dead.