1 ICU patient dies, 80 evacuated after Kolkata hospital fire
A massive fire erupted at the ESI Hospital in Sealdah, Kolkata, early Friday morning. The blaze reportedly started around 4:30am after a short circuit in an air-conditioner on the ground floor. At least 10 fire engines were rushed to control the inferno. Tragically, one patient in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) lost their life due to suffocation caused by smoke inhalation.
80 patients evacuated, transferred to other hospitals
Fire officials managed to evacuate some 80 patients from the hospital. Many of these patients were cancer patients and had been first admitted to the oncology ward on the second floor. These patients were then shifted to other hospitals for further treatment, with some 50 shifted to another ESI hospital in Maniktala.
'Very major fire': District Fire Officer
District Fire Officer TK Dutta called the incident "a very major fire." He added that all trapped patients were rescued within 20 minutes. West Bengal Fire and Emergency Services Minister Sujit Bose also visited the hospital to take stock of the situation. "We could avert a major disaster as the rescue operation was started promptly," he said.
Patients recount harrowing experience
Visuals from the site showed patients and caregivers sitting outside as they waited to be relocated. A patient who had undergone surgery recalled, "The room that caught fire, there was a fiber door... I saw fire and smoke started entering our room." Another patient said he heard sirens and saw flames at 3:00am. The exact cause of the fire is now being investigated by a forensic team.
