JAIPUR, Oct 6:
A massive fire blazed through the neuro ICU of Jaipur’s State-run Sawai Man Singh (SMS) Hospital in the dead of the night, killing six patients on critical care support, officials said on Monday.
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Eleven patients were being treated in the ICU at the time, said trauma centre in-charge Dr Anurag Dakhad. The fire, which erupted in the storage area around midnight, is suspected to have been caused by a short circuit.
The flames spread fast and rescuers could pull out only five patients.
“Six people, two women and four men died, and five are undergoing treatment,” Dhakad said. “Fourteen other patients were admitted in a different ICU, and all were successfully evacuated to safer locations,” he added.
Walls blackened with smoke and soot, equipment twisted out of shape in the heat and shattered glass told the tale of the horrors that unfolded when the fire broke out.
Though some reports claimed eight patients died in the fire, Dhakad and hospital superintendent Sushil Bhati maintained that the number of deaths was six.
Expressing grief over the tragedy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in an X post in Hindi, “The loss of lives due to a fire tragedy at a hospital in Jaipur, Rajasthan, is deeply saddening. Condolences to those who have lost their loved ones. May the injured recover soon.” Click here to watch video
The State Government has formed a high-level committee to probe the incident.
SMS hospital is Rajasthan’s biggest Government health facility, treating patients from across the State and elsewhere.
The deceased were identified as Pintu from Sikar, Dilip and Bahadur from Jaipur, and Shrinath, Rukmini and Kusuma from Bharatpur.
Anguished relatives held a brief protest and alleged that authorities were negligent, ignoring warnings and fleeing instead of rescuing the ailing and sick.
Among them was Rukmini’s son Joginder.
“My mother was recovering and was supposed to be fine. But this disaster happened. When the smoke started, there were 15 to 16 people in the ward. People were trying to evacuate their own patients,” he said.
“No one helped my mother. My elder brother grabbed a torch from the hospital staff, found our mother, and brought her out. No one went to help her. I could not save her and could not do anything,” he told reporters.
Omprakash, whose brother Pintu was killed, said the fire spread rapidly.
“My brother was still inside. It took an hour and a half before they managed to pull Pintu out of the room. His body was not burned, but his face was completely blackened from the smoke. When we took him outside, there were no doctors present,” he alleged.
The trauma centre building is in front of the main hospital building on busy Tonk Road.
Hospital staff and attendants evacuated patients with some wheeling beds outside the building. Firefighters brought the fire under control in around two hours, official said. (PTI)
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