Andhra Pradesh: FIR registered in Vijayawada fire incident

The FIR has been filed by Tahsildar and Incident Commander, Vijayawada Central.

A first information report (FIR) was registered in the Vijayawada hotel fire incident, which claimed at least 10 lives on Sunday morning.

NDRF personnel wearing PPE kits carry out a rescue operation after a massive fire broke out at a hotel, turned into Covid-19 care centre, in Vijayawada, Sunday. Ten people have lost their lives and 30 have been rescued. (PTI Photo)

The FIR has been filed by Tahsildar and Incident Commander, Vijayawada Central that read, “I am to state that the Ramesh Hospital Vijayawada had MoU with the Swarna Palace Hotel for running Covid-19 Centre in order to give treatment to the Covid-19 patients on a paid basis. It appears that the management of the Hotel Swarna Palace and the Ramesh Hospital had knowledge that there are electric defects in the lodge, and as rectification of defects involved with huge amount, avoided to repair it.”

Knowing the fact that if defects were not rectified, there is every possibility of shortage of electricity, they opened the Covid-19 Centre in the Swarna Palace on August 9 and electric shortage occurred in Swarna Palace, resulting in the death of 10 persons while 20 patients and other staff of the hospital have received injuries, the FIR further read.

“I request you to register a case against the Swarna Palace and Ramesh Hospital management and take necessary action,” Tahsildar and Incident Commander, Vijayawada Central stated in the FIR.

Meanwhile, K Naresh, Station Fire Officer, stated that out of the 10 people who have died in the incident, nine died due to suffocation while one woman succumbed to burn injuries.