5th fire case in State hospitals in current year; probe ordered
In a fifth accident of its kind in a hospital in Maharashtra during the current year, as many as 11 Covid-19 patients died and six others sustained burn wounds after a massive fire broke out at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of a civil hospital in Ahmednagar district on Saturday.
Seventeen Covid-19 patients were undergoing treatment at the ICU of the hospital, when the fire broke out there at 10.30 am. Of them, 10 died on the spot, while one more person succumbed to burn wounds later. Six others are undergoing treatment at some other ward of the hospital.
Expressing his condolences over the death of Covid-19 patients in the mishap, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray announced a comprehensive enquiry into the circumstances leading to the fire.
“A high-level committee headed by Divisional Commissioner will go into the cause of mishap. It will fix responsibility, if any, for the negligence on the part of the hospital staff. Stern action will be taken against the erring hospital staff,” the Chief Minister said.
Shortly after the fire broke out, three fire tenders and several water tankers belonging to the Ahmednagar fire brigade rushed to the scene and brought the situation under control within 45 minutes.
According to one version, an electrical short-circuit might have caused fire. The other version said that an air-conditioner caught fire, prompting the hospital administration to switch off the oxygen supply to the ward. Some of the patients died due to suffocation, while others died because of fire wounds.
In a related development, the Chief Minister announced a compensation of `5 lakh to the family members of each of the patient killed in the mishap, while another `2 lakh would be given to the families of each of the patient from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) fund.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his anguish over the Ahmednagar hospital mishap. “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 tweeted.
President RN Kovind, Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis and others expressed grief over the tragedy.
The district administration identified nine of those killed in the mishap as Sitaram Dagdu Jadhav (83), Bhivaji Sadashiv Pawar (80), Ramkisan Vitthal Harpude (70), Kondabai Madhukar Kadam (70), Chababi Ahmed Sayyad (65), Satyabhama Shivaji Ghodchaure (65), Kadubal Gangadhar Khatik (65), Asrabai Govind Nangare (58) and Deepak Vishwanath Jagdale (37).
The identities of two more patients - one of who died on the spot and another succumbed to burn wounds - were not immediately known. The remaining six patients have been shifted to a Covid-19 ward in another hospital.
After his visit to the fire-hit civil hospital, District Guardian Minister Hasan Mushrif said: “A few days back, I had given instructions to the hospital authorities to ensure against occurrence of any mishap. The state government will initiate stern action against those indicted for negligence in the inquiry”
Saturday’s was the fifth mishap to have taken place in the State since early this year.
Of them, three took place in designated Covid-19 hospitals, while one in at a hospital where Covid-19 patients are undergoing treatment.
Earlier on April 29, four patients were killed when a major fire broke out at Prime Criticare Hospital at Mumbra’s Kausa area in Thane district in the early hours of Wednesday.
On April 23, as many as 14 Covid-19 patients died in the early hours of Friday, when a fire swept through an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of a pandemic hospital at Virar in Maharashtra’s Palghar district.
On April 21, as many as 24 Covid-19 patients who were on ventilators and on Oxygen support died at a civic hospital at Nashik in north Maharashtra on Wednesday afternoon, following the sudden interruption in liquid Oxygen supplies caused by a leakage in the pipe carrying the life saving gas from a tank installed at the hospital.
On March 26, a massive fire at the Sunrise Hospital in Dreams Mall in Bhandup had left 11 Covid-10 patients dead.