5 die in Chhattisgarh COVID-19 hospital fire; probe ordered

Authorities have ordered aninvestigation after five coronavirus patients died in a fireat the COVID-19 ward of a private hospital in Chhattisgarhscapital city Raipur, police said on Sunday.

Raipur Collector Dr S Bharathi Dasan has ordered aninvestigation into the incident. Officials have been directedto conduct safety check at coronavirus hospitals in the city.

The fire broke out at Raipurs Rajdhani hospital onSaturday, police said.

“Five coronavirus patients died in the incident. Onewas charred to death and the others died due to suffocation,”a police official said, adding a case of negligence will beregistered against the owners of the hospital.

A supervisor saw smoke coming out of the ward andinformed the hospital authorities, who alerted the police. Thefire brigade and hospital staff rescued the other patients.

“The fire broke out in the COVID-19 ward of RajdhaniSuper Speciality Hospital located at Pachpedi Naka underTikrapara police station at 4.30 pm and was brought undercontrol by the firefighters in 20 minutes,” Tikrapara StationHouse Officer Sanjeev Mishra said.

When the fire broke out, there were around 30 patientsin the ward, Mishra said.

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel expressedgrief over the incident and announced a compensation of Rs 4lakh each to the families of the deceased.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Federal staff and is auto-published from a syndicated feed.)