New Delhi: At least 11 Covid-19 patients were killed and seven others injured on Saturday after a major fire broke out in the Intensive Care Unit of the Ahmednagar Civil Hospital in Maharashtra.
District Collector Dr Rajendra B. Bhosale said the fire broke out around 10 a.m.
“Of the 17 patients undergoing treatment in the ICU ward, 11 have died and the rest are injured.
"One more casualty reported in today's incident of fire at Ahmednagar District Hospital in Maharashtra - as one person succumbs to his injuries at the hospital. Death toll climbs to 11," news agency ANI reported.
The District Collector further said bodies of the victims have been sent for autopsy to determine the exact causes of their death, adding further procedures will be followed thereafter.
An official of the Ahmednagar Police Control said at least four fire tenders were rushed to the spot to douse the flames, adding the fire was finally brought under control around 1 p.m.
According to news agency PTI, fire brigade personnel had a hard time dousing the fire at the ICU on Saturday morning as they could not enter through the main entrance due to smoke, and the windows had grills over them.
Amid panic, cries and chaotic scenes, fire brigade personnel broke the window panes and began dousing the flames using water canons, said a civic fire official whose team was the first to reach the spot after the blaze started around 11 am.
The official further said the hospital authorities, as a precaution, managed to shift many patients from the neighbouring wards.
The prime cause of the fire is not yet clear. The preliminary investigations, however, point to a suspected short-circuit.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has expressed his condolences over the tragedy and ordered a probe into the incident.
“Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has expressed his condolences over the fire that broke out in the ICU ward of Ahmednagar District Hospital today and orders probe into the incident,” CMO Maharashtra tweeted.
Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope said that a compensation of Rs 5 lakh each has been announced to the kin of the deceased.
He added that the District Collector has been ordered to conduct the inquiry of the incident and submit the report in a week’s time, ANI reported.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that he was anguished by the loss of lives due to a fire in a hospital in Ahmednagar.
“Anguished by the loss of lives due to a fire in a hospital in Ahmednagar, Maharashtra. Condolences to the bereaved families. May the injured recover at the earliest,” he tweeted.
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Union Home Minister Amit Shah also expressed his condolences to the families of those who died in the incident and said that he was deeply anguished by the heart-wrenching accident.
“Deeply anguished by the heart-wrenching accident that took place in the Civil Hospital, Ahmednagar, Maharashtra. In this hour of grief, my thoughts are with the bereaved families and I pray to God for the speedy recovery of the injured,” he tweeted in Hindi.
In a similar incident, ten coronavirus patients died in a fire at a hospital in the eastern suburb of Bhandup in Mumbai on March 26. The fire broke out in Dreams Mall, which housed a Covid-designated hospital. It raged for over 40 hours. The dead included those on ventilator support.