Mumbai, Mar 26: In a shocking incident, at least 10 persons were killed in a fire that broke out at Sunrise Hospital in the Dreams Mall Complex at Bhandup in the suburbs of Mumbai on Friday.
The fire started at 11:59 pm on Thursday. Fire-fighting and cooling operations are still underway. The incident site is located off the Lal Bahadur Shastri Marg in Bhandup West.
More than 75 persons including patients, hospital staff and the mall night duty staff were rescued by teams of Mumbai Fire Brigade and Disaster Management Unit of the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has expressed shock and concern over the incident. He is expected to visit the fire site and review the progress of the operations.
Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar rushed to the hospital to oversee the fire-fighting operation.
“The fire has taken place in the mall…it also has a hospital…I have heard such a thing for the first time,” she said, however, added that last year when the Covid-19 pandemic broke out the hospital started under exceptional circumstances.
Mumbai Police Commissioner Hemant Nagrale assured strong action against people responsible for the fire. “Prime facie it appears that the hospital administration is responsible for the fire…investigations are underway and we will take strict action against those responsible,” he said.
The Sunrise Hospital management, however, claimed that two dead bodies – Covid-19 casualties - of the hospital were evacuated. They also claimed that the fire started in the mall and reached the top floor.
The rescued patients have been shifted to the Jumbo field Covid hospital at Mulund and Fortis Hospital.Additional Municipal Commissioner Suresh Kakani, Deputy Municipal Commissioner Prabhat Rahangdale and Deputy Commissioner of Police Prashant Kadam are camping at the site.
The Dreams Mall is a ground-plus-three-storey structure and the hospital is on the top floor. Official sources said that there were 76 patients in the hospital – 73 Covid and 3 non-Covid patients.
The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained.
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