10 dead in fire at Mumbai Covid hospital

MUMBAI: Ten patients died after a fire broke out at a Mumbai mall hospital where coronavirus patients were being treated, a fire brigade official said on Friday.

It is not clear how many of those dead were Covid-19 patients. There was also no word from civic officials on how many of those evacuated from the hospital were being treated for coronavirus. The fire broke out at the Sunrise Hospital in the Dreams Mall building in Bhandup area shortly after midnight, the official said.

Expressing grief over the incident, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted: “Pained by the loss of lives due to a fire at a hosing pital in Mumbai. I pray that the injured recover soon.”

Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray ,who visited the spot in the afternoon, said there was approval for starting a temporary coronavirus treatment facility there. “I apologise to the kin of those who died in the incident,” he said, announca compensation of ₹5 lakh will be given to the next kin of each deceased.

The hospital has so far confirmed two deaths, adding that both were coronavirus patients who were already dead from the disease when the fire broke out. It said there were no deaths in the fire. The differing versions of the hospital and fire brigade could not be immediately reconciled. The hospital is situated on the top floor of the four-storeyed mall building and there were 76 patients, most of them being treated for Covid-19, when the fire broke out, another official said. The blaze comes amid an upsurge in coronavirus cases in Mumbai. On Thursday, the city logged 5,504 new infections, the highest daily count since the pandemic began.

The cause of the ‘level four’ fire (serious emergency call in fire brigade parlance) has not been ascertained yet, said an official with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) control room.

Twenty fire engines, 15 water tankers and ambulances were rushed to the spot. Many patients have been evacuated and shifted to another hospital, the official said, adding fire personnel are checking if any patient is still stuck there.

Meanwhile, BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis alleged that corruption in the BMC was responsible for the fire. “It is the corrupt practices in the BMC that could have led to the fire incident in Bhandup mall. Why no fire audit was performed before COVID Care Centre was set up there?”

I apologise to the kin of those who died in the incident. Action will be taken as per law... UDDHAV THACKERAY, Maharashtra CM