M A I N   N E W S

25 burnt alive in asylum fire
Victims were kept chained in thatched huts

A policeman walks past charred bodies at a mental asylum in Ervadi village of Ramanathapuram district, Tamil Nadu, on Monday. — Reuters

Chennai, August 6
Twentyfive inmates of a mental asylum at Ervadi village in Ramanathapuram district of Tamil Nadu were charred to death in a major fire early today, police headquarters here said.

Reports from Ramanathapuram said the inmates whose bodies were charred beyond recognition, were chained in the thatched huts where they were housed when the fire broke out. Unfortunately, their cries for help went unheeded.

Fourteen of the victims were men and 11 were women. Five of the inmates were admitted to hospital with serious burns, while others managed to escape, reports said.

The asylum, attached to a dargah, was housing 46 inmates when the incident took place. The fire, which broke out in one of the huts, soon spread to other huts. This was the second major fire incident at the asylum. Allegations of arson were made in certain quarters earlier too, the reports added.

Reports from Madurai said senior police officials from the city rushed to the accident site to supervise relief and rescue operations. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa, expressing shock over the incident, announced immediate monetary relief to the next of kin of the deceased and those injured.

The Chief Minister also deputed Labour Minister Anwar Raja representing Ramanathapuram constituency in the Assembly, to visit the accident site for an on-the-spot assessment.

Ms Jayalalithaa also asked officials to take precautionary measures so that such incidents did not recur. Top police officials, who rushed to the spot, said the fire was put out after a two-hour battle by fire tenders and local people. Police suspect that the fire might have been caused by an oil lamp when all of them were asleep.

The alarm raised by some inmates was ignored by the people and asylum owners who mistook it to be their usual cries. Many mental asylums in Erwadi area are only thatched shelters.

Meanwhile, in a related development, the asylum owner charged that “certain persons” had set fire to the building. There were complaints that even psychiatric patients, who could be cured, were being admitted to the asylums.

The previous DMK government had ordered for a thorough probe into the running of the asylums and also arranged for transfer of psychiatric patients to government hospitals for free treatment.

The police has arrested four persons in connection with the fire for negligence”. PTI

NHRC notice to TN Govt

NEW DELHI: Taking suo-motu cognisance of the fire that killed 25 inmates of a mental asylum at Ramanathapuram, the National Human Rights Commission today issued notice to the Tamil Nadu Government. NHRC sources said the commission had directed the Chief Secretary of the state government to report to it within one week about the incident. UNI