KATHMANDU, Aug 30: When she saw a plume of smoke coming from an air conditioner on Friday morning, Anupama Sharma, a lab technician working for Dhapashi-based Grande International Clinic (GIC) from a lab on the second floor of Jyoti Bhavan in Jamal, thought something was wrong with the air conditioner. She had no idea that the building, where she was working, had already caught fire. “When I went to switch off the air conditioner, I was shocked to see the huge smoke coming up from the first floor,” recalls Sharma. The 29-year-old, who was injured in the fire, has been put under observation by doctors at Grande International Hospital (GIH). Her legs and feet were injured in the fire. Some portion of her hair also burned. “Now, I know what death means as I have closely felt it,” said Sharma. “While we were inside the lab, I felt we would not meet our family members again.” Along with Sharma, other lab technicians Sam Kumari Shrestha, Jyoti Bajracharya, Sushma Panta and Manoj Bohora were also injured in the incident. They, too, are now under observation. They were pulled out of the windows of the second floor by the security personnel. After being rescued, they were taken to the GIH immediately. They were rescued with the help of ladder after they were locked for over 15 minutes in the smoke-filled room. “We were holding each other´s hands and praying for life,” recalls Manoj Bohora, another survivor. “We were trying to call the reception but all landline phones were dead. Then I thought no one would know that we were in the lab.” According to Bohara, if they would have to remain trapped there for another five minutes, none of them would have survived. They were already finding it difficult to breathe inside the room. Then he called his friend, whose room is near the clinic and informed her about their situation. Bohora, 25, has suffered bruises on his body. “Everyone was screaming. We tried using the light from our mobile phones to see where to go,” said Bohora. “The smoke was so thick that it filled the entire room.” “I was scared and worried, too, after receiving his call,” said Shusma Panta, who informed the police officers about the trapped lab technicians. According to her, no one could go inside the building because of the huge smoke so she could not reach inside the lab. She was also injured by the fire while running inside the building. She has also been admitted at the hospital with her friends.