At least seven fire tenders were pressed into service to control the blaze and over a dozen ambulances deployed to shift the critical patients to other hospitals.
The fire at the Sun Hospital in Bhubaneshwar in Odisha claimed at least 22 lives on Monday night and left over 100 injured. The fire which broke out due to a possible short circuit was limited to first floor, averting an even worse tragedy. The incident has shaken the people and the administration. Voicing “serious” concern over the fire incident at the Sum Hospital, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik described the mishap as “very tragic”.
He directed the government hospitals to provide necessary treatment to patients shifted from Sum Hospital and requested all private hospitals to extend treatment to the patients from ill-fated medical facility.
The blaze was suspected to have been triggered by an electric short circuit in the dialysis ward on the first floor of the private hospital which spread to the nearby Intensive Care Unit (ICU). The fire rapidly spread to other areas on the same floor of the four-storeyed hospital building.
The commissionerate of police and fire brigade personnel along with volunteers and hospital staff launched a massive rescue operation as more than 500 indoor patients were trapped in the building, hospital officials said.
Many patients were rescued by breaking window panes, an eyewitness said.Meanwhile, the state government has ordered a high-level probe by the Director, Medical Education and Training, into the incident.
