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Some of the patients, who were undergoing treatment for COVID-19 at the civil hospital in Maharashtra's Ahmednagar district, died due to smoke after a massive fire engulfed the ICU ward on Saturday morning, police said, as reported by news agency PTI.
A total of 17 patients were admitted at the ward, some of them were senior citizens and some patients were on ventilator or oxygen. The ward was added to the hospital after the pandemic began.
"Some patients died of burns, while some died due to the smoke. We are waiting for a detailed postmortem report. Further investigation in the case is on," Topkhana police station's assistant police inspector Juber Mujawar said on Sunday. A total of 11 patients died due to the fire, most of those who died were aged between 65 and 83. One of them is yet to be identified.
Patients relatives, who normally waited in the corridor outside the ICU, were asked to step outside as the hospital authorities said cleaning was going on, as reported by PTI. However, they rushed back when they saw thick black smoke billowing from the ward.
A short circuit was suspected to be the cause of the blaze, though it was yet to be confirmed, chief fire officer of the city civic body Shankar Misal said. However, a case of negligence has been registered against unidentified persons under Indian Penal Code Section 304 (A).
Though district authorities claimed that a fire audit had been carried out at the hospital, Misal claimed that after the audit, the work of installing necessary safety systems was incomplete due to "want of funds", as quoted by PTI. A probe committee headed by Misal will look into what led to the tragedy, the collector earlier said.
In April this year, 15 COVID-19 patients had died in a blaze at the ICU of a private hospital in the state's Palghar district. Another fire in March at Dreams Mall in Mumbai's Bhandup area, which housed a Covid-designated hospital, had claimed the lives of nine such patients.
(With inputs from agencies)
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