Daijiworld Media Network - Bareilly
Bareilly, Aug 29: A fire broke out on the top floor of the five-storey Navodaya Hospital in Uttar Pradesh's Bareilly on Saturday morning, triggering panic among patients, attendants and hospital staff as thick smoke spread through the building.
The blaze reportedly broke out around 10 am in a room on the top floor when the hospital was crowded during OPD hours. Around 100 patients and attendants were present in the ICU and other wards at the time, officials said.
As the fire alarm went off, relatives rushed to evacuate patients, while hospital staff shifted critically ill patients out of the building on stretchers as rescue operations began.
Police and fire brigade teams reached the hospital soon after receiving information about the incident and launched firefighting and rescue operations. The fire was brought under control within around 30 minutes, officials said.
As a precautionary measure, the hospital administration arranged ambulances and shifted all patients to nearby hospitals.
A short circuit in the MCV box is suspected to have triggered the fire, following which smoke spread through different parts of the building. Fire alarms reportedly went off on every floor, adding to the panic.
Officials, however, said an investigation is underway to establish the exact cause of the fire and determine how the blaze started on the top floor.
The incident comes days after a tragic fire at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of the District Women's Hospital in Maharashtra's Amravati during the early hours of August 24. Three infants died of suffocation due to heavy smoke, while six others are undergoing treatment at a local Super Speciality Hospital.
The Amravati incident sparked widespread outrage and raised serious questions over the emergency preparedness of the medical facility. The hospital building had been inaugurated only a year earlier by late Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar.
Authorities are investigating whether the ventilator that exploded was outdated, inadequately maintained or suffered a critical technical failure. The reported failure of the automated fire suppression system has also come under scrutiny.