Maha: 15 patients die in fire at Virar Covid hospital

Virar (Maharashtra): Fifteen COVID-19 patients died in a blaze at the intensive care unit of Vijay Vallabh Hospital at Virar in Palghar district of Maharashtra on Friday.

There were 83 patients in the hospital, 17 of them in the ICU, when the fire broke out after a blast in the AC unit, an official said.

TV visuals showed the smoke-filled ICU in a disarray after the blaze, with the ceiling falling off in some places, beds and other furniture strewn around and kin of the deceased wailing outside the hospital.

The fire broke out in the ICU on the second floor of the four-storeyed hospital shortly after 3 am, an official said. Firefighters extinguished the blaze at 5.20 am, he added.

The other patients in the hospital were not affected as the damage was confined to the ICU, he added. Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray expressed grief over the tragedy and directed the local administration to probe the cause of the blaze.

Thackeray also announced an assistance of Rs five lakh to the families of each deceased.

"The fire at a COVID-19 hospital in Virar is tragic. Condolences to those who lost their loved ones. May the injured recover soon," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said.

"PM@narendramodi has approved an ex-gratia of Rs. 2 lakh each from PMNRF for the next of kin of those who have lost their lives due to the hospital fire in Virar, Maharashtra. Rs. 50,000 would be given to those seriously injured," the PMO tweeted.

Maharashtra Home Minister Dilip Walse Patil has asked the state Director General of Police to conduct an in-depth probe into the fire, an official said. A hospital employee said the AC system was not working since Thursday afternoon and some repair work was going on.

Relatives of some victims alleged that the hospital staffers were asleep when the blaze broke out and there was nobody to help the patients come out of the ICU. They also claimed that the hospital did not fulfill fire safety norms.