Panic reigned supreme for some time on Friday when an electric wire of an air-conditioner burnt inside the paediatric ward of Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) where 24 students of Saran mid-day meal tragedy are undergoing treatment. Parents and guardians of the ailing children ran helter-skelter out of the ward along with their children in panic but the situation returned to normalcy after the air conditioner was switched-off. PMCH Superintendent Amarkant Jha Amar told newspersons that the AC wire caught fire due to the voltage fluctuation, denying that there was any gas leak.
Doctors and attending nurses promptly opened the windows so that the smoke can move out from the ward. In all 24 children of the Government Primary School at Dharmasati Gandaman village of Saran district and a cook Manju Devi are presently undergoing treatment at the paediatric ward of PMCH. Amar said that three children are in the ICU for the safety reason, clarifying that they are not serious.