20200806 Eight patients asphyxiated in ICU as fire breaks out at Covid facility in Ahmedabad
India Aug 06 2020 “Building” “Hospitals”
Dead : dead 5 to 9 Burnout : 1 to 29 Injured : injured 0 or unknown
Eight patients asphyxiated in ICU as fire breaks out at Covid facility in Ahmedabad
Updated: 2020–08–06
AHMEDABAD: In one of the worst fire tragedies witnessed in Ahmedabad, eight patients who were battling Covid-19 in the intensive care unit of Shrey hospital in Navrangpura area in Ahmedabad were asphyxiated after a fire broke out in medical facility on the fourth floor on Thursday morning.
Fire officials received a call around 3.05am in the wee hours on Thursday morning. By 3.40am, 18 fire vehicles had reached the spot for rescue work. This is the country’s first incident at a designated Covid facility. Initial reports have blamed an electrical short-circuit as the cause of fire. A thick plume engulfed the ICU making rescue work difficult for the staff present there. What has startled the fire authorities was that the hospital allegedly did not have a fire safety NOC from the municipal fire department.
The victims include Navin Shah (80) and Narendra Shah (61) from Dholka town, Manubhai Rami (82) from Memnagar area in Ahmedabad, Lilavati Shah, (72) of Vasna, Jyoti Sindhi (55) from Kheralu, Aarif Mansuri (42) from Vejalpur area, Arvind Bhavsar (78) from Memnagar and Ayesha Tirnizi (51) from Paldi area. Around 40 other Covid patients were rescued from the facility and shifted to Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) run SVP hospital at Ellisbridge, the officer added.
Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani has set up a committee to inquire into the incident and submit a report within three days.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted, “Saddened by the tragic hospital fire in Ahmedabad. Condolences to the bereaved families. Spoke to CM and mayor regarding the situation. The administration is providing all possible assistance to the affected.”
Initial reports suggest that following a spark in the ICU unit a few medical staff members in PPE kits had rushed inside to control the fire. But this rescue effort by the staff members was thwarted after the PPE kit of them caught fire. The fire also engulfed the oxygen supply system including a few cylinders and alcohol-based sanitisers which aggravated the incident.
Home minister Amit Shah, who is also recovering from Covid-19, tweeted, “Deeply anguished by the loss of lives due to the tragic fire incident at a hospital in Ahmedabad. My condolences and thoughts are with the affected families in this hour of grief. Praying for the speedy recovery of those injured.
The Central government announced a relief of Rs 2 lakh and the state government announced Rs 4 lakh for the kin of the victims in the tragedy.
The state government has given us three days to submit a detailed report of the incident,” says additional chief secretary (ACS) Rajiv Gupta. “I may not know minor details of the incident at this juncture,” Gupta said. The report will be submitted to a committee consisting of ACS, Home department Sangeeta Singh and ACS, urban development department, Mukesh Puri. The chief minister Vijay Rupani assured that responsibilities will be fixed following the submission of this report. A detailed inquiry is also being conducted into the fire NOC status of all hospitals in the city, AMC sources claimed.
Web Source: The times of india