PATNA, Jun 4 : Five patients choked to death at a private hospital in Muzaffarpur district of Bihar on Thursday after smoke filled the ICU following a fire incident, and the staff allegedly ran away leaving those admitted there in the lurch, a top official said.
A short circuit apparently triggered the fire in the hospital, and the district administration formed a committee to look into the matter.
Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary directed the authorities to pay an ex-gratia of Rs four lakh to the next of kin of each deceased.
The rescue operations began within four minutes of receipt of information that there was a fire at Prasad Hospital, situated in Brahmapura locality of the north Bihar town, Shobha Ahotkar, the Director General (Fire), told PTI Video in the state capital.
“Our brave firefighters were at the ICU, situated on the fifth floor of the hospital, within four minutes of the receipt of information, and they were able to evacuate 23 patients altogether. All the deaths have been caused by asphyxiation, and there were no burn injuries,” Ahotkar said.
Fire officer R N Pandey, who had led the team that carried out the rescue operations, told reporters in Muzaffarpur that they received the information about the fire around 3 AM.
“But when we reached there, we found no flames but only dense, black smoke which was making it difficult to breathe and see things clearly,” Pandey said.
Blaming hospital authorities for the loss of lives, Ahotkar said, “The staff who should have helped with evacuation chose to run away. And the hapless patients, most of whom were not able to move on their own, got trapped”.
She added that a fire audit of the hospital was carried out in November last year.
“We are examining whether the hospital has been complying with the recommendations made in the audit. If not, there will be stern action. We are also issuing fresh instructions to all such institutions across the state to give top priority to fire safety,” the DG said.
According to Girivar Dayal Singh, the Commissioner of Tirhut Division headquartered in Muzaffarpur, the owners of the hospital were on the run and the police have been asked to lodge an FIR.
Talking to reporters after inspecting the hospital, the Commissioner said, “It is strange that the owners of the hospital, who should have been here after such a major incident, are nowhere to be seen.”
Singh said that although the district administration has set up a five-member committee to look into the fire incident, he ordered that an FIR be lodged and stringent action be taken against those found guilty of lapses.
“I have learnt that the automatic fire safety system was not functional at the hospital despite being mandatory. There have also been inputs that the short circuit followed a blast in the ventilator machine, which raises serious concerns about the upkeep of the hospital, including the ICU,” he said.
All these aspects will be thoroughly looked into and stern action will be taken over any laxity in following the rules, Singh said.
According to a statement issued by the district administration, two of the deceased were women.
While three of the dead patients were locals, others hailed from adjoining districts of Sheohar and Sitamarhi.
Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary expressed grief over the tragedy and directed Muzaffarpur administration to pay an ex-gratia of Rs four lakh to the next of kin of each deceased.
Condolences were also offered by BJP president Nitin Nabin who hails from Bihar, and his JD(U) counterpart Nitish Kumar, who stepped down as Chief Minister of the state a couple of months ago after remaining in power for two decades.
The ex-CM’s son Nishant is the state’s health minister, and the opposition attacked him over the incident.
“Nishant Kumar has become a minister without even being elected to the state legislature. As the minister, the least that was expected from him was a visit to
Muzaffarpur with the message that with him at the helm, the health sector in Bihar was in safe hands. But we learn that he chose to visit Delhi,” alleged RJD spokesman Ejaz Ahmed.
Congress spokesperson Snehashish Vardhan also alleged that the state’s healthcare system itself seems to be in the ICU under the NDA government.
“Must the health minister undertake a Delhi tour on a day such as a major tragedy has taken place at a Bihar hospital?,” Vardhan asked. (PTI )
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