A massive fire broke out at the Indira Gandhi Medical College and Hospital (IGMCH) in Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, on Thursday, due to the explosion of two cooking gas cylinders in the cafeteria. The incident led to the evacuation of around 250 people from the new Outdoor Patient Department (OPD) building. No casualty was reported, according to officials.
A video by news agency ANI showed the attic of the new OPD block of the Indira Gandhi Medical College & Hospital in Shimla completely englufed in flames and thick grey smoke billowing from the building.
According to news agency PTI, the fire department received a call about the incident at 8:50 am and promptly dispatched six fire tenders from The Mall Road, Chotta Shimla, and Boileauganj to the location. The fire was contained and prevented from spreading to other parts of the building, thanks to the efforts of the fire officials and equipment available in the newly constructed building.
Those present during the incident said that the two blasts occurred in quick succession, leading to panic. The fire occurred at a time when OPD services had just begun. The evacuation of about 250 people, including patients, took place within 15-20 minutes with the assistance of hospital staff and others.
Senior Medical Superintendent of IGMCH Rahul Rao confirmed that no casualty was reported but noted that the fire caused extensive damage to four chambers of doctors, the cafeteria, and three lifts. The preliminary estimate for the loss is over Rs 60 lakh.
OPD services have been shifted to the old building until the new OPD block is restored. The new multi-storey OPD building, which cost Rs 30.9 crore to construct, was inaugurated on March 9 by Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu. It houses several facilities, including an emergency unit, intensive care unit, special wards, isolation ward, physiotherapy ward, computerized tomography scan, X-ray, sample collection, and pathology lab facilities.