Atleast 16 Covid-19 patients died due a fire at a Covid designated hospital inBharuch district on Saturday morning. Over 50-60 patients were admitted in thePatel Welfare Hospital when the fire broke out in the ICU ward at midnight. Thefire officers have said that the hospital did not have an NOC for fire.
Thefire erupted in the middle of the night in the designated Covid hospital on theBharuch-Jambusar highway, around 190 km from the state capital Ahmedabad. Theexact cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained, according to the officials.
Itis believed that around 16, including 14 Covid critical patients admitted inthe Intensive Care Unit (ICU) were charred to death in the fire caused mostprobably by a leaking oxygen cylinder. But there has been no confirmation onthat.
Thefire was controlled within an hour and around 50 patients were rescued andshifted to nearby hospitals, according to sources.
Itis learnt that the hospital building did not have a No Objection Certificate(NOC) mandatory to be obtained from the fire department. "The hospital'sanother building has got the NOC from the fire department, but this buildingdid not have an NOC," said Deepak Makhija, the Bharuch regional fireofficer.
Meanwhile,Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani has expressed condolences and announced Rs4 lakh ex-gratia to the kin of the deceased. The CM has also ordered an inquiryinto the incident.
"Iexpress my condolences to those who lost their lives in the fire at BharuchHospital. The state government will provide assistance of Rs 4 lakh to thefamilies of each of the victims of the accident," Rupani said.
TheCM has appointed two IAS officials, the labour and employment department,Additional Chief Secretary ACS Vipul Mitra and Commissioner MunicipalitiesAdministration, RajKumar Beniwal to probe the incident. Both the officials havebeen immediately sent to the place.
TheCM said that the government is also thinking of appointing a judicial probeinto the incident.