Fire in UP hospital, over 140 patients rescued, no casualty

Kanpur, March 28

Over 140 patients were rescued after a fire broke out at the state-run LPS Institute of Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery in Swaroop Nagar here on Sunday morning, the Uttar Pradesh Government said.

According to hospital officials, two high-risk patients died in the morning, but the deaths were “not caused by the fire”.

“Around 7.30 am, smoke was seen billowing out of a storeroom on the ground floor. The fire was subsequently doused and the patients were shifted to another building. All patients are safe,” Dr Vinay Krishna, Director of the hospital, said.

About the deaths of the two patients, Krishna said, “Tek Chand died around 6.30 am, even before the fire broke out. Rasoolan Bi died later. The bodies have been sent for postmortem. Prima facie, the high-risk patients had normal deaths and the fatalities were not caused by the fire. The postmortem will reveal the exact cause of the deaths.”

Smoke filled the centrally air-conditioned building, he asserted. Krishna said the cause of the fire was “probably a short-circuit”.

“We used the fire extinguishers kept on the floor to douse the flames. Two fire-tenders were also pressed into service,” he said. The fire broke out near the intensive care unit (ICU) on the ground floor of the hospital.

“The fire broke out in a storeroom. Over 140 patients were evacuated,” Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Awanish Kumar Awasthi said.

Kanpur’s Additional Commissioner of Police Akash Kulhari said a couple of fire tenders were pressed into service to douse the flames.

According to Swaroop Nagar Station House Officer (SHO) Ashwani Pandey, about 175 patients were evacuated from the ICU and other neighbouring wards and shifted to other wards.

“A short-circuit is suspected to have led to the fire, but the exact reason will be ascertained only after an investigation,” the SHO said. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath directed that the evacuated patients be provided immediate care. — PTI