Ten patients lost their lives on Monday following a fire that broke out in the intensive care unit of the SCB Medical College and Hospital, located in Cuttack, in the eastern region of India, particularly within the state of Odisha.
All of the deceased were individuals receiving treatment at the hospital, and during the incident, 11 hospital staff members sustained burn injuries as they attempted to rescue those trapped inside the unit.
The Chief Minister of Odisha, Mohan Charan Majhi, reported that the fire ignited around 2:30 AM local time and is suspected to have been triggered by an electrical short circuit.
Fire service personnel promptly responded and managed to control the situation, allowing for the evacuation of patients from the affected intensive care unit and nearby wards, transferring them to other sections within the hospital.
In a statement to the media after his visit to the hospital, Majhi highlighted that the fire impacted both the trauma care ICU and an adjacent intensive care unit.
He commended the bravery of the medical team and security personnel who took risks during the rescue efforts.
"Medical staff and security personnel put their lives on the line during the rescue operation," he stated, emphasizing that some rescuers sustained injuries, and the government has mandated that they receive appropriate medical attention.
The state administration has also pledged financial support to the families of the victims, while Majhi has ordered a thorough judicial investigation into the incident.
Officials indicated that strict measures would be enforced against anyone found responsible for this unfortunate event.
Hospital fires have been recurrent issues in India, often resulting from electrical failures and systems being overloaded.
In October last year, another fire claimed the lives of six critically ill patients in an ICU in Rajasthan. Similarly, a fire in 2024 within a neonatal ICU in Jhansi resulted in the tragic deaths of at least ten newborns.
Other previous incidents included a devastating ICU fire in 2021 at the Vijay Vallabh Hospital in Virar, which resulted in the loss of 13 patients being treated for COVID-19, as well as an incident the same year at a neonatal care unit in the Bhandara District of Maharashtra, leading to the death of ten infants.
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