At least 11 people were killed after fire broke out at a COVID-19 ward in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the government civil hospital in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra on Saturday, 6 November.
The fire broke out at around 10:30 am, District Collector Rajendra Bhosale said.
A total of 17 coronavirus patients were admitted in the ICU when the incident happened. Six people have been rescued and are in stable condition.
The cause of the fire is yet to be known, however, prima facie it appears that the cause could be due to an electrical short circuit, Bhosle said, as reported by NDTV.
Quoting Shankar Misal, chief of the Ahmednagar Civic Fire Brigade, a report by The Indian Express said that previous fire audits had suggested setting up of a firefighting system. However, other than fire extinguishers, the hospital had not installed a proper fire fighting system.
“Today, we found that other than fire extinguishers, there was nothing in the name of a firefighting system. Fire sprinklers, hydrants were missing… the staff had apparently not been trained to handle the fire. Had smoke detectors been put in place, they would have set off a siren and the entire staff could have quickly swung into action. If fire sprinklers had been installed, they could have helped in dousing the fire or reducing its intensity before the fire brigade lands", the report quoted him as saying.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh each to the families of the deceased and ordered a probe into the incident.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was "anguished" by the news and offered his condolences to the bereaved families.
"Anguished by the loss of lives due to a fire in a hospital in Ahmednagar, Maharashtra. Condolences to the bereaved families. May the injured recover at the earliest," Modi said in a tweet.
President Ram Nath Kovind also tweeted in Hindi offering his condolences to the grieving families.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik said that an investigation will be launched into the "very serious issue". He has asked all hospitals to undertake a 'fire audit', NDTV reported.
Former Maharashtra Chief Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Devendra Fadnavis called for an "in-depth inquiry" into the incident.
(With inputs from Ritvik Bhalekar, NDTV, The Indian Express.)
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)