22 die, many injured in major fire at Odisha hospital

Bhubaneswar, Oct 17: At least 22 patients died and around 12 others injured in a fire that broke out at the Sum Hospital here this evening, in one of the worst such incidents involving a medical facility.

The blaze was suspected to have been triggered by an electric short circuit in the dialysis ward on the first floor of the private hospital which spread to the nearby Intensive Care Unit.

"So far we have received some 'brought dead' people at the Capital Hospital. However, I cannot exactly say the number of persons who have died in the incident," Health Secretary Arati Ahuja said.

However, the Capital Hospital Superintendent Binod Kumar Mishra said, "We have received nine dead bodies, while five others are in very critical condition. The toll may increase."

Meanwhile, Amri Hospital (Bhubaneswar) unit head Dr Salil Kumar Mohanty said, "A total of 37 patients were received at our casulty ward. Our doctors have declared eight persons as brought dead."

"Most of the victims were in the first floor ICU of the ill-fated Sum Hospital," said a doctor at the Capital Hospital. The fire, which was said to have started from the dialysis ward on the first floor, quickly spread to other areas including the ICU on the same floor of the four-storeyed hospital building.

The commissionerate of police and fire brigade personnel along with volunteers and hospital staff launched a massive rescue operation as more than 500 indoor patients were trapped in the building, hospital officials said.

At least seven fire tenders were pressed into service to control the blaze and over a dozen ambulances deployed to shift the critical patients to other hospitals. Many patients were rescued by breaking window panes, an eyewitness said. In 2011, a major blaze had engulfed AMRI Hospital in Kolkata, killing 89 people, including 85 patients.

Director of the Capital Hospital B B Patnaik said a majority of the victims were admitted to the ICU of the Sum Hospital and receiving ventilatory support.

He said two of the critically injured patients have been admitted in the ICU of Capital Hospital.

Besides the Capital Hospital, Dr Patnaik said, the patients were shifted to nearby Amri Hospital, Apollo Hospital, Kalinga Hospital, SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack and some other hospitals in the state capital region.

Meanwhile, the state government has ordered a high-level probe by the Director, Medical Education and Training, into the incident. State's Health Minister Atanu S Nayak said stringent action will be taken if the hospital authorities were found guilty of negligence.