7 killed as fire engulfs Vijaywada hotel being used as Covid-19 centre

Police said an unknown number of people are feared trapped inside the hotel

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Coronavirus

BS Web Team  |  New Delhi 

Vijaywada fire
The incident took place around 5 am. Around 22 patients are being treated in hospital.

Seven people died Sunday when fire engulfed a hotel being used as Covid-19 facility in Andhra Pradesh's Vijaywada city, media reports said.

"15-20 people have been injured in the incident. They have been rushed to hospital. 2-3 of them are critical," NDTV quoted a senior officer as saying

Vijaywada fire

The hotel was being used by a corporate hospital for treating Covid-19 patients, the website said.

Police said an unknown number of people are feared trapped inside the hotel. News agency ANI reported 30 people have been rescued from the hotel so far.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Twitter he was "anguished" by the deaths and he had discussed the fire with Andhra Chief Minister Y S Jaganmohan Reddy.

Eight people were killed in a fire in the intensive care unit (ICU) of a private Covid-19 designated hospital in Gujarat’s Ahmedabad on Thursday. Police had said the fire broke out due to a short circuit on the fourth floor of the hospital.

Vijaywada fire

The reason of fire appears to be a short circuit, as per the preliminary report, but we will have to ascertain: Krishna DC Mohammad Imtiaz

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First Published: Sun, August 09 2020. 08:47 IST