Day before blaze, Sharjah victim had called mother to say ‘I miss you’

Sharjah - Her condition was critical as she had inhaled too much smoke.

A 35-year-old Sudanese woman named Salma, who suffered from suffocation in the Al Butina apartment fire on February 13 and died nine days later on Wednesday, had called her mother a day before the incident to tell her that she missed her immensely and would see her soon.
The deceased’s sister recalled the phone call: “Salma told her mother that she was missing her very much and would see her soon. She always kept her endearing laugh intact as she spoke on the phone.”
Salma couldn’t see her mother and sister as she went into coma, even as they arrived in the UAE from Sudan to see her.
Salma was shifted to the ICU of Al Kuwaiti Hospital in a critical state, and passed away on Wednesday, taking the death toll from the Butina blaze to six.
2 children among 5 killed in Sharjah apartment blaze
The fire, which erupted due to smoke in the AC caused by short-circuit, had earlier claimed the lives of five people, including two children, their mother, an Indian man and a Pakistani woman. As many as 16 people had felt suffocated, and were rushed to the Qasimi Hospital.
The Sudanese woman was brought to the hospital in a serious state. She was an asthmatic and suffocation deteriorated her condition.
Amna Ali Karam, director of Kuwaiti Hospital in Sharjah, said that when Salma was transferred there, her condition was very bad as she had inhaled a lot of smoke while the building was burning. Since she suffered from asthma, her condition aggravated. The woman was treated for nine days before she passed away Wednesday morning, the hospital director revealed.
Her husband, Ahmed Babeker, 48, who works at Sharjah Electricity and Water Authority (SEWA) and who also felt choked in the fire, told Khaleej Times that he and his wife were rushed to the hospital by police ambulance when they both passed out due to suffocation.
He said that Salma had remained in coma for nine days and that they had been transferred to Kuwaiti Hospital as his wife’s condition was grave. “My wife suffered from asthma, so when I saw smoke I tried to put a wet towel on her face to let her breathe well. But I couldn’t do it for long as we both fell unconscious. I came to know that my wife’s condition was critical only after I was discharged and called her mother and sister to come from Sudan to see her before she dies.”
The emergency department had swung into action and dealt with the fire immediately. The medical team provided necessary assistance to the Sudanese couple. Police said that they had rushed all the injured to the hospitals with serious and moderate injuries. Police are through with the investigation and have already submitted it to the public prosecution. The bodies of the other victims were handed over by the public prosecution. Necessary formalities for burial and repatriation have been completed.

• Sharjah