Gujarat: Fire at Rajkot COVID-19 hospital's ICU claims 5 lives
At least five people were reportedly killed after a fire broke out at a hospital designated for COVID-19 patients in Gujarat's Rajkot in the early hours of Friday. The fire initially broke out at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of Uday Shivanand Hospital, a coronavirus-designated medical facility in Rajkot's Mavdi area, at around 1:00 am on Friday. Here are more details.
As many as 11 COVID-19 patients were reportedly inside the ICU of Uday Shivanand Hospital at the time of the incident, of which five lost their lives. All the victims are aged between 60 to 70 years, according to the local municipal corporation. While authorities believe that the blaze erupted from the hospital's ICU, they are yet to ascertain the cause of the fire.
Authorities, however, suspect that the fire in the hospital's ICU broke out due to a short circuit. The Rajkot fire department rushed a fire brigade team to the hospital to put out the blaze and managed to control it within half an hour.
Gujarat: Five people died after a fire broke out at Shivanand COVID Hospital in Rajkot, last night.
— ANI (@ANI) November 27, 2020
CM Vijay Rupani has ordered a probe into the incident. The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained. pic.twitter.com/aRXrGrD3NQ
At the time of the incident, a total of 33 patients were reportedly admitted to Uday Shivanand Hospital. Apart from those in the ICU, many patients admitted to the hospital have also suffered severe injuries in the fire, according to reports. The rescued patients have been shifted to other designated COVID-19 medical facilities, said authorities.
"We rushed to the spot and rescued 30 patients after a call informing... about the fire was received. Three patients died inside the ICU," Chief Fire Officer BJ Theba told PTI. "We controlled the fire in half an hour in the night. The private hospital's ambulance, fire department's ambulance, and 108 Ambulance were deputed to shift the patients," he added.
Rajkot's Municipal Commissioner Udit Agarwal said Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani has been informed about the hospital fire, adding the CM also ordered a probe into it. "We have ordered a probe in the incident, the hospital had all the fire extinguisher systems on the place and the staff was trained. But somehow they could not use the system in the panic," Agarwal stated.
