Five Covid patients die in hospital fire

Five patients were killed yesterday in a fire that broke out in a Covid19 ward, the fourth blaze in a novel coronavirus hospital since the outbreak began, which drew angry questions from the Supreme Court.

The early morning blaze in Rajkot, Gujarat, gutted the intensive care unit of the Uday Shivanand Multi-Speciality Hospital around 3am, television footage showed. The most likely cause was an electrical short circuit, said government official Udit Agarwal. “Three of the patients in the intensive care unit died on the spot, and two others succumbed on way to another hospital. Two other patients in the ICU were unhurt,” Agarwal said.

Twenty-seven other coronavirus patients being treated at the hospital were rescued.

India has recorded 9.3mn infections, the second-highest in the world after the US, and more 135,00 deaths.

The health ministry yesterday reported 43,082 new cases and 492 deaths in the past 24 hours.

The latest fire angered the Supreme

Court, which asked both the federal and state governments to submit a detailed reply on recurring fires in Covid-19 hospitals.

In August, eight Covid-19 patients were killed in a fire in the ICU ward of a hospital in Ahmedabad, the largest city of Gujarat.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Twitter yesterday he was pained by the loss of lives.

“My thoughts are with those who lost their loved ones in this unfortunate tragedy. Praying for a quick recovery of the injured. The administration is ensuring all possible assistance to the affected,” the premier said.