A Fire officer said that by the time fire crews arrived, the entire ward was filled with smoke, blocking all access.
Nine patients, including three women, died after a massive fire broke out late Sunday night in the ICU of the trauma centre at Sawai Man Singh (SMS) Hospital in Jaipur.
The blaze erupted around 11.20 pm in the neuro ICU ward’s store room, where papers, medical equipment, and blood sample tubes were kept. Officials suspect a short circuit as the cause.
At the time of the incident, 11 patients were admitted in the affected ICU, while 13 others were in an adjoining ward.
A Fire officer said that by the time fire crews arrived, the entire ward was filled with smoke, blocking all access.
“We had to break windowpanes from the opposite side of the building and spray water jets inside,” he said. It took nearly one and a half hours to douse the flames. Patients were evacuated along with their beds and shifted to the roadside.
Former CM Ashok Gehlot tweeted “The fire in the ICU of the trauma center at SMS Hospital, resulting in the death of 7 people, is extremely heartbreaking. I pray to God that there is minimal loss of life in this accident. May the Lord grant place to the departed souls at His divine feet and swiftly restore the health of the injured.”
“The state government should conduct a high-level investigation into this incident to ensure that such accidents do not recur anywhere in the future.”
The article originally appeared on Hindustan Times
