20230808 Over 100 patients evacuated as fire breaks out at AIIMS
India Aug 08 2023 “Building” “Hospitals”
Dead : dead 0 or unknown Burnout : 1 to 29 Injured : injured 0 or unknown
Over 100 patients evacuated as fire breaks out at AIIMS
Updated: 2023-08-08
NEW DELHI: Over 100 patients were evacuated from wards after a fire broke out in the endoscopy unit of AIIMS on Monday.
The hospital reported no deaths or injuries of patients or their kin. The fire department said it got information about the blaze at 11.54am. Overall, 16 fire tenders were sent to the spot. “The fire was on the second floor of the main building and was controlled around 12.49pm. No one was injured,” Atul Garg, the director of Delhi Fire Services, said.
“The fire department team inspected the place and found that the fire originated in a second-floor storeroom that had been shut for a long time,” a police source said.
The hospital said in a statement that 31 patients from the AB-2 ward were shifted to the ICU and the AB-7 Ward. Also, 70 patients were shifted from the emergency area to other facilities. No causalities or injuries were reported. The hospital said it was in the process of restoring services. “The fire was controlled immediately by the AIIMS fire services. Subsequently, the fire tender staff of Delhi Fire Services arrived. They helped cool down the area. All efforts are being made to bring back normalcy in medical services at the earliest,” the statement read.
A few patients who were waiting for admission in the emergency unit were shifted Safdarjung and RML Hospitals, said officials. As some medical equipment has been damaged, resumption of routine endoscopy will take time, head of the gastroenterology department, Dr Anoop Saraya, said. He added emergency endoscopy will start soon.
TOI spoke to the patients and their kin, who described the panic that gripped them as thick clouds of smoke emanated from the windows. The patients who were taken out of their respective wards were waiting on the hospital premises. Holding the documents of patients, their relatives were anxiously waiting for doctors to see them and then refer them to other hospitals.
Kalyan Singh said his relative Arun Singh was admitted to the emergency ward. “On Monday, an emergency alarm went off and power was cut. Hospital staff told us to leave the ward,” he said. Kalyan took Arun out along with his stretcher. The family had come from Bihar for Arun’s treatment 17 days ago.
Mohammad Islam said his son Mohammad Raza (20) was admitted to the hospital pn Sunday. “I came on Monday morning from UP. I was at the hospital when smoke started coming out. I took my son out with the stretcher,” he said.
Web Source: The Times of India