6 dead, 141 injured in Mumbai hospital blaze
Mumbai, Dec 17: A massive fire swept through a government hospital in Mumbai Monday evening killing six people and leaving 141 patients and visitors injured, officials said.
A total of 147 people, including patients and visitors, were rescued after the fire broke out at the ESIC Kamgar Hospital at Marol in suburban Andheri, said an official of the Disaster Management Cell of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
They were subsequently shifted to different hospitals, he said.
The official said 19 of them were taken to civic-run Cooper Hospital where two were declared brought dead.
Another 33 were shifted to Seven Hills Hospital in Andheri where three were declared dead, he said.
Forty were taken to Holy Spirit Hospital, Andheri (East), where one of them was declared brought dead, the official said.
Some of the injured were discharged, while the others were undergoing treatment in different hospitals with some of them in the ICU, he said.
A fire brigade official said the blaze at the hospital was reported at 4.03 pm and it was extinguished at 7.35 pm.
"The building is a ground plus five-floor structure and the blaze erupted on the fourth floor," the official said.
The deceased are yet to be identified, he said, adding the cause of the fire was not yet known.
Mumbai Mayor Vishwanath Mahadeshwar said it was under investigation.
"At present, our priority is to ensure patients sent to hospitals get proper treatment," the mayor said.
Recalling the horror, a patient, Santosh Kadam, said, "I was on the fourth floor and was going to the ground floor to get my MRI done.
"Suddenly, nurses and other staffers started shouting and told us to vacate the building since a fire had broken out. I along with my other relatives came down safely."
Another patient Girish Patel said, "I saw smoke emanating from the third and fourth floors. There was thick layer of smoke. People panicked and started running helter-skelter before hospital staff came and advised us to vacate the floor quietly."
According to another civic official, over 160 patients were admitted in the hospital at the time of the blaze.
Milind Ogle, the deputy chief fire officer of the MIDC area, told PTI, "Our team had found some lacunae in an under-construction building coming up adjacent to the hospital and suggested their rectification."
"The hospital administration was in the process of complying with our suggestions. Meanwhile, this incident took place in the old hospital building," Ogle said.
The 325-bed hospital was constructed in 1970s, the officials said, adding police and hospital authorities have vacated the building till further notice.
Fire brigade personnel had to break the glasses of the building's facade to evacuate stranded patients, they said.
Additional Commissioner of Police Manoj Sharma said an inquiry will be launched in association with the fire brigade department to ascertain the cause of the fire.
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Brothers awaiting board exam results drown in canal
Erode (Tamil Nadu) (PTI): Minor brothers who were awaiting their board exam results have drowned in a canal in this district while spending their Summer holidays at their aunt's place, police said.
According to Arachalure Police, Santhosh, aged 17, and his younger brother Sanjai, aged 15, natives of Musiri village in Tiruchirapalli district, came to Gopaliparai hamlet near Arachalure to their Aunt's house a couple of days ago after writing their annual 12th and 10th examinations, respectively.
The police said on Friday that both boys went to the nearby Lower Bhavani Project canal to take a bath. It was alleged that while taking a bath, both boys went to a deeper area of the canal and went missing.
As they didn't return home, even two hours after they left, their aunt grew suspicious and informed the Fire and Rescue Services, Chennimalai. A rescue team from the department rushed to the spot. After a few minutes of searching, they located the dead bodies of the brothers and sent them to the hospital. Arachalure police registered a case of death due to drowning and are investigating.
