22 persons have died in a devastating fire in a private hospital in Bhubaneswar in the Indian state of Odisha.
NDTV is reporting that the fire is believed have started from the dialysis ward of the hospital, possibly due to an electrical short circuit, around 7.30 on Monday evening.
The fire then spread to the intensive care unit and the medicine ward.
#WATCH: Fire broke out in ICU ward of Institute of Medical Sciences & Sum Hospital, Bhubaneswar.5 fire tenders at the spot. Fire fighting on pic.twitter.com/3iCMVSsQQz — ANI (@ANI_news) October 17, 2016
According to The Times of India newspaper, the SUM hospital did not reveal whether any patients were injured or dead because of the fire. It was only after other hospitals in the city began receiving the patients evacuated from the hospital that the casualties became known.
"Some private hospitals and government-run Capital Hospital received the dead bodies. Those patients were shifted from SUM Hospital," Khurda district collector Niranjan Sahoo told reporters.
There were around 500 patients in the hospital when the fire broke out in the hospital.
The fire was so intense that the fire and rescue workers couldn’t use the staircases in the hospital.
"It was difficult to use the staircase. We had to carefully drop the patients by tying them with clothes," said a fire service officer.
Head of the state fire service, Binoy Behera said the exact cause of the fire is being investigated. "Prima facie, we suspect the fire occurred due to an electric short-circuit in the dialysis ward.”
India’s prime minister Narendra Modi expressed shock at the tragedy.
Quoting sources, The Times of India reports that several patients and attendants were injured while trying to escape amid the chaos and thick smoke.
"I was carrying my ailing father on shoulders outside the ward, but I fell down in the chaotic situation. In the smoke, I could not find my father. Hospital authorities dragged me outside safely. But my father was trapped inside," said Jyoti Behera, an attendant.
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