20210418 Four Covid patients die in fire in Raipur ICU, probe ordered
India Apr 18 2021 “Building” “Hospitals”
Dead : dead 1 to 4 Burnout : 1 to 29 Injured : injured more than 10
Four Covid patients die in fire in Raipur ICU, probe ordered
Updated: 2021-04-18
Smoke billows out from the hospital building after the fire on Saturday
RAIPUR: Four Covid patients were killed in a fire in the ICU of a private hospital in Raipur on Saturday evening.
Patient Ramesh Sahu died of burns and three others — Ishwar Rao, Vandana Gajmala and Devika Sonkar — suffocated to death in the smoke, said police. Chief minister Bhupesh Baghel expressed grief at the loss of life, and announced an assistance of Rs 4 lakh to each of the bereaved families.
Raipur collector Dr Bharathi Dasan has ordered an inquiry into the incident, and a fire-safety check of all Covid-dedicated hospitals in Raipur district.
The fire broke out at 5pm on the first floor of the two-storey Covid-dedicated hospital in Pachpedi Naka area. There were 34 patients admitted at the time, nine of them in ICU. The supervisor saw smoke billowing out of the ICU and alerted the authorities, who informed Tikarapara police station.
Smoke engulfed the ward and the fire cut off oxygen supply, adding to the agony of Covid patients who were already struggling to breathe. Firemen, hospital staff and attendants of the patients ran into the smoke-filled rooms to rescue patients.
It took an hour to douse the fire. While checking on the patients, hospital staff realized four of them had died.
According to Raipur SSP Ajay Yadav, three of the victims were on oxygen support and were rushed out of the ICU to save their lives but died. “An FIR will be registered against the hospital management for being negligent towards patients,” said the SSP.
Twenty-nine patients were shifted to other hospitals. It’s believed the fire broke out in the power board of the ICU due to a short circuit.
Initially, health authorities had spoken of two deaths, and denied they were due to the fire. “The two deaths happened due to Covid infection and not because of the fire. The situation was brought under control and we did not need to shift patients to other hospitals,” Raipur chief medical and health officer Dr Meera Baghel had told TOI earlier in the evening.
Web Source: The Times of India