20230213 Fire breaks out at under-construction building in Kottayam; no casualties
India Feb 13 2023 “Building” “Hospitals”
Dead : dead 0 or unknown Burnout : 1 to 29 Injured : injured 0 or unknown
Fire breaks out at under-construction building in Kottayam; no casualties
Updated: 2023-02-13
KOTTAYAM: A major fire broke out in an under-construction building on the government medical college hospital (MCH) campus in Kerala’s Kottayam on Monday.
A tragedy was averted as the fire was brought under total control within three hours by the fire and rescue units that had rushed to the spot from various fire stations in the district.
The patients in the nearby block which houses psychiatry, general medicine and dialysis ICU were evacuated and were shifted to wards in other blocks by the staff of the MCH in quick time.
The fire broke out around 12 noon from the first floor of the eight-storey building which was under construction for the general surgery ward of the MCH.
It was the workers who sorted garbage into bags who first noticed smoke emanating from the building.
They immediately informed the hospital authorities who informed the fire and rescue unit.
The workers who were inside the building self-evacuated.
The fire and rescue units arrived from Kottayam after 45 minutes of the fire outbreak.
By that time the fire had spread and there was thick smoke in the entire area.
Soon 10 fire units from fire and rescue units from Changanassery, Vaikom, Erattupetta and Pampady arrived.
The fire was brought under control by 2.30pm. There were no casualties.
It is suspected that the fire broke out due to an electric short circuit or from a cooking cylinder used to cook food by the workers.
Among those materials that got charred include cylinders, welding machines, electric wiring materials, and materials used for construction works.
Loud sounds of blasts, probably of bursting concrete bricks and cylinders, were heard from inside the building during the fire.
The MCH will conduct a detailed inquiry to find out the cause of the fire.
The smoke and fire posed a danger of fire spreading to the nearby blocks where patients were there.
Some of the patients and their bystanders panicked and they were seen running out of the block.
The staff were quick to act as they evacuated all the patients in the block in quick time.
Psychiatry, medicine and intensive care units for dialysis patients were functioning in that block.
Around 15 dialysis patients were shifted to the ICU in ward 26.
Around 90 patients from general medicine and 40 from psychiatry wards were also evacuated as a safety measure.
Meanwhile, the demand for a fire and rescue unit based in the MCH strengthened following the fire outbreak.
Last month there was a fire outbreak near the labour ward.
Last year a fire broke out at the waste treatment plant.
There was also fire reported in the surgery and OP blocks.
The nearest fire station is in Kottayam which is at a distance of 8kms.
Health minister Veena George has sought a report on the incident.
She directed the director of the medical education department to conduct a probe and file a report.
Web Source: The Times of India