AHMEDABAD: A mother’s instinct and a nanny’s presence of mind helped save a two-year-old girl from the raging fire sparked by the crashing AI 171 at BJ Medical college hostel building on Thursday.Dr Chanchal Bhandari, a cardiac anaesthetist at the UN Mehta Institute of Cardiology and Research Centre (UNMICRC), said that when her daughter’s nanny called her to tell her about smoke billowing from their building, she rushed to her house on her scooter. But she was stopped at the gate by resuce personnel who were fighting the fire raging on the campus.“It was the nanny’s presence of mind that really saved my girl. She promptly rushed to a higher floor as smoke engulfed our residential quarter to ensure my baby girl did not suffocate. She climbed down a floor after being asked by the rescuers, all the while protecting my daughter from the smoke,” Bhandari said.As it was difficult to enter the building, the occupants were asked to jump down. “My daughter’s skin had blackened due to the smoke,” said Bhandari, breaking down while describing how her child was the first to be caught in the rescue mat, followed by the nanny.“I am thankful to God and my nanny for her safety today.” The child is under observation and is stable at the Civil Hospital campus, said officials.
