10 killed in fire at Covid care centre
Amaravati, Aug. 9: As many as 10 patients died at a star hotel converted to a coronavirus treatment centre here on Sunday when panic-stricken inmates tried to flee a fire suspected to have been caused by a short circuit, the government said.
Director General of Disaster Response and Fire Services Department Md Ahsan Raza said one COVID-19 patient was charred to death while nine died of asphyxiation caused by the smoke.
Three women were among the 10 victims.
Thirty two people have been rescued by Andhra Pradesh Disaster Response and Fire Services Department.
A hotel staffer broke his back and was hospitalised after he jumped out a window on the first floor in a bid to save himself after the fire broke out.
A criminal case under Sections 304 (2) and 308 of Indian Penal Code has been registered against the managements of hotel Swarna Palace and
Ramesh Hospitals even as the state government constituted two committees to conduct a detailed probe into the exact cause of the fire and other lapses that led to the tragedy.
The state government said negligence on the part of the Ramesh Hospitals management in running the Covid Care Centre in the hotel since mid-July, was prima facie established.
“Swarna Palace is a major fire hazard. It did not even have proper exit points and that made the rescue operation very difficult and we had to use ladders to bring down the trapped people,” Raza told PTI.
Chief minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy announced an ex gratia payment of `50 lakh each to the next of kin of the 10 victims
Prime Minister Narendra Modi called Reddy over phone and enquired about the incident.
Reddy told Modi that a private hospital had taken the star hotel on lease to treat Covid-19 patients.