Ahmedabad/Rajkot Siyasat.net
Five coronavirus patients died after a fire broke out in the ICU of a designated COVID-19 hospital at Rajkot in Gujarat on Friday, officials said.
The Supreme Court took cognizance of the fire incident and sought a report from Gujarat government on the issue.
Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel said 26 patients at the hospital were rescued and shifted to other facilities.
Chief Minister Vijay Rupani has ordered a probe into the incident. Chief Minister Vijay Rupani expressed grief over the incident, announced Rs 4 lakh ex gratia to next of kin of those who died in the incident.
The fire broke out around 1 am in the ICU of Uday Shivanand Hospital in Mavdi area, where 33 patients were admitted, seven of them in the ICU, the official said.
“We rushed to the spot and rescued 30 patients after a call informing about the fire was received. Three patients died inside the ICU, while three died shortly thereafter,” he said.
The fire was brought under control, he said, adding the cause of the fire has not been ascertained yet.
The rescued patients have been shifted to other COVID-19 hospitals, he added.
In August, eight COVID-19 patients were killed after a fire broke out on the top floor of a four-storey private hospital in Ahmedabad.
Also,read https://siyasat.net/2020/08/09/is-this-vibrant-and-gatisheel-gujaratmany-hospitals-have-no-fire-noc/
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that he is extremely saddened at the loss of lives due to a fire in a Rajkot hospital. and said administration is ensuring all possible assistance to those affected.
Quoting the prime minister his office tweeted on Friday: Extremely pained by the loss of lives due to a hospital fire in Rajkot. My thoughts are with those who lost their loved ones in this unfortunate tragedy. Praying for a quick recovery of the injured. The administration is ensuring all possible assistance to those affected.
( www.siyasat.net is Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India based website, powered by Gujarat siyasat, a fortnightly)
