90 people had suffocated to death when a fire started in the basement of Kolkata's AMRI hospital four years ago.
More than four years after 90 people died at AMRI hospital in Kolkata, choked to death by fumes from a fire in the basement, charges have been framed against 16 accused. Trial will begin on September 5.
The men have been charged for culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
Public prosecutor SP Chattopadhyay denied any delay on part of the state or the court in bringing the case to trial. "There are 16 accused, as many lawyers. They all had to be heard," he said.
All the accused, among them prominent businessmen of Kolkata who are directors at AMRI, were present in court for the framing of charges. Also present were members of the victims' family.
Paromita Guha Thakurta, who lost her mother in the fire, has been at the forefront of the demand for justice.
"I wanted to fight so no one else suffers the way we did," Ms Guha Thakurta said. "The AMRI incident is a blot on Kolkata and has caused us tremendous pain."
An umbrella organisation, the AMRI Fire Victims Families Association, has been waging the legal battle. Among its members was Srinath Pariah, who lost his wife in the fire. He has a young son to care for. "It has taken so long to reach trial. Who knows how much more time it will take to get justice," he said.
On December 9, 2011, around 2.30 am, families received frantic calls from the patients admitted in AMRI hospital. They complained of smoke filling the wards from a fire in the basement, mostly through the vents of the central air conditioning.
Relatives rushed to the hospital, but could do little to rescue their loved ones. Firemen had to break down huge glass panes to let out the smoke and put out the fire. But it was too late for 92 patients, many of whom died in their beds.
Locals who were the first to reach the spot, said the hospital's security staff did not let them in to evacuate patients, not realising the gravity of the situation.