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India's prime minister visits site of deadly fire
Most of the 181 killed cannot be identified
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February 24, 1997
Web posted at: 11:30 a.m. EST (1630 GMT)BARIPADA, India (CNN) -- As rescue workers removed bodies from the smoldering rubble of a makeshift Hindu camp, Indian Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda visited the site of the fire that killed 181 worshippers and injured 169.
Gowda promised federal payments to the families of those killed and injured in Sunday's fire, and said the government would begin discussions with religious leaders on how to prevent a repeat of the tragedy.
Gowda's visit came as distraught villagers wandered along rows of charred bodies at the Baripada camp site looking for lost relatives believed to have been among the 12,000 worshippers attending an annual Hindu ceremony.
Urmila Jena, who escaped the fire with only minor injuries, was searching for her 7-year-old daughter.
"She was with me when the fire broke out, and I just can't find her now," she said.
With fewer than 50 bodies identified, authorities were transporting the remainder to a nearby site for mass cremation according to Hindu custom.
The fire engulfed a makeshift straw and bamboo hall constructed to house the worshippers. Most of the victims were sleeping after lunch when the fire broke out. Police said the fire started with an electrical short-circuit later fueled by the explosion of a gas cylinder used for cooking.
Hospital unable to treat injured
Baripada, located 110 miles (175 km) southwest of Calcutta in the state of Orissa, was overwhelmed by the disaster. The town has only two fire trucks. Rescue workers rushed the victims to the local hospital, which had neither equipment nor doctors to treat the injured.
The state government ordered doctors from nearby towns to Baripada to assist in the effort. A special medical team has been assembled to assist local doctors, and some of the most seriously injured have been transported to a better equipped hospital.
According to Gowda, the families of those killed will receive a federal payment of 50,000 rupees ($1,400) and the families of those injured will receive a payment of 25,000 rupees ($700). The federal aid comes in addition to state payments of 25,000 rupees and 10,000 rupees to families of the dead and injured respectively.
Officials said Sunday's disaster illustrated the lack of fire precautions in India, a country with no federal fire safety regulations. In December, 1995, a fire in a school in the northwest town of Dabwali killed 425 people assembled for a ceremony.
New Delhi Bureau Chief Anita Pratap and Reuters contributed to this report.
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