Meerut prayers for missing fire victims
by Sudhakar

      Meerut: When Amit Kumar saw a photo of his injured wife, a day after they were caught in a deadly fire at a consumer fair in Meerut, he breathed a sigh of relief, thinking he would soon find her. But it has been three days since the tragedy took place and Kumar is yet to find her despite a frantic search from one nursing home to another. Kumar even visited New Delhi, where many of the injured were transferred, but to no avail. Moreover, Kumar is yet to receive any concrete help from the administration. "After realising the intensity of the fire, I told my wife to run as I was already at a safe distance. I presumed she was following me. But I think she got caught in the melee. However, in the photo, it's very clear. She has only 20 percent burns. Among the people who are lifting her, is a police constable and she was put inside a police jeep," said Kumar. But police officials said they would do their best to locate all missing persons. "We are definitely going to try more than our best to trace any missing. They are bound to be getting treatment somewhere in some hospital and we will find them," said Navneet Sikera, Senior Superintendent of Police, Meerut.

     Dozens of distraught relatives are pleading authorities to help find their loved ones who went missing in Monday's blaze who are neither among the 36 confirmed dead nor in the official list of missing people. More than 25 people, locals said, have vanished as their relatives failed to trace them at any of the town's hospitals, mortuaries or graveyards. On Wednesday, dozens of protesters ransacked the office of District Magistrate, protesting against an alleged attempt to cover up the death toll. Authorities had initially said 51 people died in the fire that engulfed aircraft hanger-shaped temporary halls covered with plastic sheeting where around 2,000 people were browsing displays. But on Tuesday, officials revised the death toll down to 35, and on Wednesday added another victim who died in hospital. The moves triggered protests by people who said they were still looking for missing relatives, their anger fuelled by claims that bodies were run over by bulldozers in the aftermath of the blaze, and that some corpses were secretly cremated to scale down the disaster. The district administration strongly denied the accusations but officials gave widely conflicting accounts of the number of people still officially "missing". Meanwhile, traders at the Victoria Park, the venue of the fair, organized prayers for the peace of the departed souls. "There were some victims for whom the last rites could not be performed. We have organized these prayers for the peace of their souls. We are also keen to provide whatever help we can and if we get any call, we are ready to donate our blood also," said Pawan Kumar Garg, Chairman of the traders association.

Meerut fire: A brave boy meets his end (Go To Top)
by Sudhakar

      Meerut/New Delhi: A young Javed Khan whose valour act during Monday's Meerut fire tragedy that saved the life of eight children today succumbed to his burns. In Delhi's Safdurjung Hospital where he was brought on Wednesday, Javed breathed his last. The 18-year-old boy, who had just completed his class twelve board exams before he made the fateful trip to Meerut to earn some money, working in the stalls of the Consumer Brand Fair held in Meerut's Victoria Park, would never be able to see the result of his board exam. As doctors told about Javed's demise to his parents, hell broke loose on the Khan's family as they turned inconsolable. His family's hopes had risen yesterday when he was brought to Delhi from a Meerut Hospital Today amidst the grim atmosphere, questions were asked why Javed was shifted to Safdurjang two days later, when chances of his burns getting infected were very high. With close to 80 percent burns with multiple fractures, Javed became synonym to the courage and an icon after he went inside the burning tents to get back the two children he found caught in the blazing fire. After his first successful attempt he moved on again and again bruised and burned to save the minors till he himself became a victim of the horrendous flare that had engulfed hundreds of people. Resident of Mandavali in Delhi, Javed had convinced his parents before moving to Meerut to work in a stall that sold health products. The Uttar Pradesh government announced that Javed would be posthumously rewarded with rupees five lakh. Meanwhile, officials in Meerut said that they have launched a manhunt for the organizers of the consumer fair. The Uttar Pradesh Government has already ordered a judicial probe into the fire.

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