11 patients have a narrow escape as fire breaks out in a Cuttack hospital

Extension and construction work was being carried out in Sun Hospital at Tulasipur area when the fire started on the top floor. The hospital, among the biggest nursing homes in Cuttack, did not have many patients as construction work was going on.

Nearly a dozen patients in a private hospital in Cuttack city of Odisha had a providential escape on Monday when a major fire broke out at the facility.

Cuttack district collector Bhabani Shankar Chayani said that an inquiry has been ordered into the incident to find out if the fire safety measures were in place at the hospital. (HT PHOTO)

Officials said some extension and construction work was being carried out in Sun Hospital at Tulasipur area when the fire started on the top floor. As smoke bellowed out, the hospital authorities shifted 11 patients out quickly. The hospital, among the biggest nursing homes in Cuttack, did not have many patients as construction work was going on.

Cuttack deputy commissioner of police Prateek Singh confirmed that there had been no casualties or injury due to the fire. The hospital is owned by one Dr Dipak Mitra.

The approach road to the hospital is quite narrow, and it created hurdles for the fire tenders, at least 5 fire tenders entered the area to put out the flames. The fire service personnel also used a hydraulic platform to carry out operations on the top floor of the building.

Maheswar Swain, director of the Odisha Fire and Disaster Response Academy said the fire service department has not granted any fire licence to the hospital. “The hospital authorities had been directed to adopt adequate fire safety measures. But they are yet to get the certificate. We could evacuate the patients safely as we had done mock evacuation exercises there earlier,” said Swain.

This is the second instance of fire in an Odisha hospital in less than 6 months. In September last year, 127 Covid-19 patients in a hospital of Cuttack city had a narrow escape when a fire broke out in the ICU of Sadguru Covid hospital in Jagatpur area of Cuttack. As smoke enveloped the ICU and other rooms, many patients fell unconscious.

In the largest-ever hospital fire in the state, 24 patients were asphyxiated to death in Bhubaneswar's SUM hospital when a fire broke out in the ICU, dialysis and emergency units of the hospital in October 2016.