SRINAGAR: Although a three-storey orthopedic building was damaged in a fire at the Orthopedic and Combined Hospital, patients were evacuated safely at various hospitals in Srinagar.
Divisional Fire Officer Tassaduq Ahmed said that the fire tenders reached the spot as soon as the information about the fire broke out in the hospital at around 9 pm.
“First and foremost we took measures to evacuate the patients,” he said, adding that “a big tragedy must have happened because there was a gas bank with about 150 oxygen cylinders.”
Fire and emergency department personnel with the help of local volunteers swung into action and immediately removed the gas cylinders and shifted them to safer places to prevent the explosions.
He said as soon as firefighters reached the spot, the entire building caught fire. “We sought more reinforcements from the entire Srinagar city and only then were we able to douse the fire. It was a busy operation.”
He said no one was hurt in the fire, except for an employee of the fire and emergency department. “The staff have been admitted to the hospital,” he said.
The fire was brought under control after several hours of effort, causing panic among the patients, their attendants and the hospital staff. According to officials, there were 113 patients in the IPD alone.
A senior doctor at the hospital said, “A patient was being operated upon when the fire broke out and he was also evacuated safely.”
Medical superintendent of the hospital Dr Mian Suhail Sultan said that apart from damaging the emergency OT, faculty sitting room and spinal center data, everything else including the record room is safe.
Within minutes of the fire from the emergency operation theatre, the fire took a formidable form, causing panic among the patients and their attendants. Witnesses told GNS that local people in the vicinity arrived shortly after and helped the hospital staff to evacuate patients from all wards and units. He shifted them to an open space in the hospital premises and after some time the patients were shifted in ambulances to SKIMS Bemina, SMHS Srinagar and JLNM Hospital Rainawari Srinagar.
The Department of Health and Medical Education said the reasons as to why the incident happened despite “regular fire safety audits and adequate measures” were being ascertained. Srinagar Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Ejaz Asad said the cause of the fire was being investigated. “Once we get the report, we will be in a better position to say what caused the fire,” he said.
—GNS
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