A 50-year-old fireman died after suffering from a cardiac arrest while undergoing training on Monday morning. His family, however, has refused to take his body home, demanding that the fire department compensate them.
The deceased, Sarjerao Shenavi, was attached with the Chembur fire station.
The incident took place at around 7.35am at the Wadala training centre. Shenavi was undertaking the 90-day training required to be promoted.
"After running for around seven minutes, Shenavi suddenly lost consciousness. We rushed him to Sion hospital for treatment, but he was declared dead upon admission," said SH Nesarikar, training in-charge, Mumbai Fire Brigade.
The hospital authorities confirmed that his death was caused due to cardiac arrest.
However, his family refused to take his body until Monday evening, and demanded that they be compensated by the fire department. "He was in uniform when he died. But the hospital records state that he wasn't on duty when he died, which is why fire officials are denying compensatory benefits," said Vinod More, a relative of the deceased.
"How are his wife and two sons supposed to survive without monetary support?" More added.
Fire officials said that the incident occurred when Shenavi was off-duty. "The family is entitled to compensation only if the death takes place while putting off a fire or rescuing someone," said a senior fire official. They are, however, in favour of including training casualties or death in the category.
Copyright 2012 Diligent Media Corporation Ltd., DNA (Daily News & Analysis), distributed by Contify.com. All Rights Reserved
