Fire breaks out at School of Tropical Medicine, none hurt

Kolkata: Tension ran high in School of Tropical Medicine in the city on Monday morning after some hospital staff spotted smoke billowing out of the Critical Care Unit (CCU).

Following the incident, the patients who were admitted to the CCU at the time of the incident were evacuated and later shifted to some other wards of the hospital.

The hospital authorities have decided to keep the CCU shut for the next two days.

According to the preliminary investigation, the fire department officials suspect that an electrical short circuit in an air-conditioning machine might have caused the smoke. A detailed probe has been initiated.

According to the hospital sources, none was injured in the incident. As many as seven patients were taken out of the CCU and shifted to other departments.

One patient who was put on ventilation at the CCU has also been removed. The hospital staff took part in the rescue operation. It was learnt that the smoke was spotted at around 10.30 am on Monday triggering panic among patients.

The matter was reported to the police station and fire brigade after the incident. Three fire tenders were pressed into action to douse the flames.

The PWD engineers also rushed to the spot. The fire officials and PWD engineers soon brought the situation under control.

A senior official of the hospital said it would take some time for the hospital to carry out disinfection works inside the CCU. Once the process is completed the patients would be again shifted to the CCU, the official said.

No major damage had taken place inside the CCU. No fire took place. The smoke might have been triggered due to an electrical short circuit. The PWD engineers of the electrical department are also looking into the matter.

"It is suspected that the smoke was caused after a belt of an air-conditioning machine was snapped. The evacuation process had been conducted on a war footing. None was injured in the incident. The situation was brought under control within an hour. The process of disinfecting the CCU has already begun," a senior official of the hospital said.