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India Hospital Fire Kills at Least 19 in Eastern City Hospital Fire in India Kills at Least 20
(about 7 hours later)
NEW DELHI — Officials said on Tuesday that at least 19 patients had died in a fire at a hospital in eastern India after smoke filled an intensive care unit. NEW DELHI — At least 20 people died in a fire at a hospital in eastern India after smoke filled an intensive care unit, officials said on Tuesday.
The fire late Monday at Sum Hospital, in the city of Bhubaneswar, may have been started by a short-circuit in the hospital’s dialysis unit, said Sharad Kumar Sahoo, a city police inspector. The fire late Monday at Sum Hospital, in the city of Bhubaneswar, may have been started by a short-circuit in its dialysis unit, said Sharad Kumar Sahoo, a city police inspector.
Gangadhar Sahoo, dean of the Institute of Medical Sciences, which is affiliated with the hospital, said he believed the patients had died from inhaling carbon monoxide. No other patients in the 750-bed hospital were hurt, and the survivors were moved elsewhere, he said. The people most likely died from inhaling carbon monoxide, said Gangadhar Sahoo, dean of the Institute of Medical Sciences, which is affiliated with the hospital. The survivors were moved elsewhere, he said. The number of injured was unclear.
The fire was quickly brought under control, but thick smoke filled the adjacent wards, said Trilok Kumar Babu, a city fire official. Evacuating the patients took four hours, he said. Employees tried to fight the fire but were unable to control it, said Badal Pradhan, the hospital’s security supervisor, and it took firefighters at least 30 minutes to arrive.
The government of the state of Odisha, which includes Bhubaneswar, ordered an investigation. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Twitter that he was “deeply anguished” by the deaths. The blaze was brought under control, but thick smoke filled the adjacent wards, said Trilok Kumar Babu, a city fire official. Evacuating the patients took four hours, he said.
Patients and attendants were “attempting to jump” from the hospital’s second floor, The Times of India reported.
Witnesses described a chaotic scene as families tried to help their loved ones. “I saw people rush and run but could not understand what had happened,” said Nilambar Pattnaik, 38, who led his wife, who was recovering from an operation earlier in the day, to a room that he said was so crowded with bodies that she had difficulty breathing.
“You can still smell the smoke,” he said.
At the time of the fire, about 650 patients had been admitted to the hospital. Those in the intensive care unit were mostly on ventilators, Dr. Sahoo said.
The hospital administration suspended four staff members, including a fire officer and two electricians.
Public safety norms are poorly enforced in India, and fatal fires are common. In 2011, 94 people died in a fire at a private hospital in Kolkata, and six senior hospital officials were charged with culpable homicide.
The government of the state of Odisha, which includes Bhubaneswar, ordered an investigation into Monday’s fire. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Twitter that he was “deeply anguished” by the deaths.