INDIA. Mumbai: 18 persons including, 16 COVID-19 patients and two nurses died due to asphyxiation and burns when a fire broke out at a private COVID-19 centre in Bharuch in the southern part of Gujarat in the early hours of Saturday.
The fire broke out due to a blast in an air-conditioner, in the ICU due to a short circuit, which was controlled within an hour, hospital sources said adding that the survivors were rescued by locals and fire fighters. Now they have been shifted to nearby hospitals.
Bharuch is about 339 km from Mumbai. The hospital run by Patel Welfare Trust is located on the Bharuch-Jambusar highway, about 190 km from the state capital Ahmedabad.
The fire broke out at about 1 am on Saturday. According to district collector Dr. M. D. Modiya, the patients lost their lives due to the fire and resultant smoke. A total of around 50 patients were admitted to the four-story hospital, of which 24 were in the intensive care unit.
A COVID-19 centre at the Patel Welfare Trust Hospital.(Photo credit: Prakash Machwan).
Prime Minister Narendra Modi condoled the death of patients who died in the fire accident at Bharuch Hospital and said, “Pained by the loss of lives due to a fire at a hospital in Bharuch. Condolences to the bereaved families.”
Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani took to Twitter to express his condolences and announced financial assistance of Rs 4 lakh to the victims’ families. CM Vijay Rupani said “I express my condolences to the patients, doctors and hospital staff who lost their lives in the fire accident at Bharuch Hospital. The state government will assist Rs 4 lakh to the families of each of the victims of the accident.”
Zuber Patel, the trustee of the hospital said, “It’s an unfortunate incident not only for us but for the entire Bharuch. With the police and administration’s help, we could shift patients to other hospitals”.
The Chief Minister has also directed two senior IAS officers of the state, Additional Chief Secretary for Labour and Employment Vipul Mitra and Commissioner Municipalities Rajkumar Beniwal, to investigate the incident. He also said that the state government will conduct a judicial inquiry into the mishap.
Earlier 16 patients were rescued and shifted to another hospital after a fire broke out at Ayush Hospital in Surat in Gujarat on April 26. However, of these, four patients died subsequently.
The incidents of fire in hospitals continue
The incidents of fire in hospitals have continued to occur in different parts of the country in the last few months. Maharashtra: Ten 10 infants perished in a fire at a hospital in Bhandara in the Vidarbha region on January 09, 2021, 11 patients died in a fire in a COVID-19 facility at a mall in Bhandup in northeast Mumbai on March 26, 2021, four patients died in a fire at the Well Treat Multispeciality Hospital, Wadi in Nagpur on April 09, 2021, 13 COVID-19 patients lost their lives in a fire that broke out in the intensive care unit (ICU) of the Vijay Vallabh Hospital, in Virar West (near Mumbai) on April 23, 2011, 24 patients died in Dr. Zakir Hussain Hospital in Nashik due to asphyxiation following oxygen leak on April 21, 2021, four patients died in a fire at Criticare Hospital, Mumbra, Thane on April 28, 2021.
Chhattisgarh: Four patients died in a fire at Raipur’s Rajdhani hospital on April 17, 2021. Gujarat: Four patients died post-fire at Ayush Hospital in Surat on April 26.2021.
