Cameroon timber A hospital blaze caused by a suspected short circuit killed at least six patients in a trauma centre at the largest state-run hospital in India’s northwestern city of Jaipur, and injured five, officials said on Monday.
The fire began in the intensive care unit of the Sawai Man Singh Hospital, “releasing toxic gases”, hospital official Anurag Dhakad told the ANI news agency, adding that a short circuit was the suspected cause.
“Five patients are still critical,” he said, while 13 had been safely evacuated from the two wards of the hospital in the capital of Rajasthan, which draws patients from across the desert state.
Fire brigade teams arrived within 20 minutes after the fire began late on Sunday in the neurosurgery intensive care unit, hospital superintendent Sushil Kumar Bhati told the agency.
Most of the hospital equipment was gutted in the roughly two hours it took to bring the fire under control, however, broadcaster NDTV said.
Vikas, a ward boy who was at the scene, told PTI that he and other staff members rescued as many people as they could before the fire worsened.
“We were inside the operating theatre when we heard about the fire, so we immediately rushed to rescue the people inside the centre. We managed to save at least three to four patients. However, as the flames intensified, we could no longer go into the building. We did our best to rescue as many as we could,” he told the news agency.