Parents of medical students who died in Russia fire demand probe into incident

Mumbai: The bodies of the two medical students who perished in Smolensk Institute in Russia arrived in India via an emirates flight on Wednesday.

 The parents and relatives of the two girls said that they had received information from other students that there was no proper explanation of escape routes for students in case of emergency. The parents are in touch with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and the ministry of external affairs and are demanding that a proper probe be initiated in the incident.

The families of the deceased got custody of the bodies and BJP leader Kirit Somaiya assisted the families to complete formalities. The bodies will be taken to Pune and Mumbai in two separate ambulances.

The two girls from Maharashtra who were studying medicine in the Smolensk State Medical University in Russia and had died due to suffocation after they were trapped in their room when a fire broke out in their hostel on Sunday.

Source had told Deccan Chronicle that as per the preliminary report by the Smolensk region department of the Russian Investigative Committee, the fire broke out at the fourth floor of the six-floor dormitory of the university in the morning on February 14.

The two students namely Puhja Kallur from Navi Mumbai and Karishma Bhosale from Pune were roommates and were trapped in their room on the same floor. Both the girls were fourth year students of the MBBS course.

“After the fire was brought under control, the firefighters went through the rooms and found the bodies of both the girls. The cause of death was shown as death due to suffocation, but it will be confirmed only after the post mortem reports are received,” said the source.