A fire safety audit was last conducted at Bhubaneshwar's SUM Hospital, where a massive fire killed 24 people on Monday in 2013. But the recommendations were never implemented, says an NDTV report.
The changes suggested by the audit in 2013, which weren’t followed through include formulating an evacuation plan and a disaster response system, reports NDTV. The ignored recommendations also include building a fire escape stairwell and installing automatic sprinklers, the report adds,
But the hospital denies these claims and says the last fire audit was conducted four weeks ago.
As of now, we are conducting a very objective inquiry into what happened. I don’t know what they (hospital authorities) say but I have come to my own findings. I will be submitting a report to the government on those lines.Binoy Kumar Behera, Director General of Police (Fire Services)
Hospital authorities have been accused of negligence and culpable homicide in a preliminary inquiry.
The hospital’s superintendent and three other staff members were arrested a day after the incident, Bhubaneswar Police said.
The state Fire Department and the Director of Medical Education and Training (DMET) registered separate FIRs against hospital authorities on Tuesday.
Patients and witnesses have alleged misconduct by hospital staff, saying that no evacuation system was in place and patients were abandoned.
Not all deaths were due to the fire. Some deaths took place while shifting patients to other hospitals without life support, SUM doctors said.
(With inputs from NDTV)
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)