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Patients rescued as fire breaks out at Chennai hospital
Tamil Nadu health minister M Subramanian, who rushed to the hospital, said a short circuit caused the fire
CHENNAI: A fire broke out at Chennai’s Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital around 11 am on Wednesday. No casualties were reported but the evacuation of patients was going on as heavy smoke billowed from one of the older buildings of the hospital.
Fire and rescue personnel carried patients on chairs, wheelchairs, and stretchers to a safer location within the hospital. At least 33 patients, including three from the ICU, were shifted.
In a video message, Jayaseelan, a rescued patient, said they noticed smoke at 11 am and that its intensity increased by 11.30 am. “The nurses assured us that nothing will happen to us,” said Jayaseelan, who is nursing a leg injury and cannot walk. “But when the smoke increased in our rooms, they asked those who could take the stairs to go out. I could not walk. Three of my friends were also in the ward... so we decided to stay. But as the situation got worse, the doctors used stretchers to bring us down. Now we are safe.”
Health minister M Subramanian, who rushed to the hospital, said a short circuit caused the fire. “Ten [oxygen] cylinders, which were inside, have also been removed. The hospital’s staff and fire department personnel acted very quickly.”
Initially, four fire tenders were rushed to the spot to douse the fire. Later more were sent until the fire was entirely extinguished.
