Fire breaks out at Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital
29 July 2017 11:08 PM IST
A fire broke out on the fourth floor of the Gynecological ward at the Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital (CNMCH) on Saturday noon triggering panic among patients. No injury has, however, been reported in the incident.
It was alleged that all the emergency exit points were closed as a result of which, many of the patients who were trying to flee from the building faced problems. Some patients spotted smoke billowing out from the fourth floor of the building. The smoke soon spread to other floors of the building triggering panic among patients. Many patients were found to be fleeing with their newborn babies in their hands. But they faced difficulties as the staircase too was shrouded in black smoke.
The power supply was disconnected immediately after the incident to avert any untoward incident. The staff members initially tried to douse the flame before the fire tenders reached the spot. The hospital staff acted promptly and evacuated the patients from the building.
Patients and their family members alleged that when they came to the staircase they found all the emergency exit doors in the ground floor of the building closed. Some of the emergency doors remained chained. At the time of emergency, some people standing outside the building tried to open an emergency exit
door but failed to do so as it was chained.
According to hospital sources, the fire broke out at around 12.05 pm when a cable of the lift on the fourth floor of the building caught fire. The hospital authorities, however, claimed that a fire might have taken place when some wielding work was going on. The exact cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained. Four fire tenders were pressed into service to douse the flame immediately after the incident.
Hospital authorities have asked the Public Works Department (PWD) to submit a report on why the fire had taken place. A senior official of hospital said that all the patients were safely shifted to the other buildings of the hospital.
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