Sole gate of Jabalpur hospital was ablaze: Eyewitnesses recall horror

The hospital, which came up in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic, was running in a three-storey building without proper infrastructure.

Bhopal/Jabalpur: People kept crying for help while struggling to come out of the hospital after a fire broke out on its only entry-and-exit gate, eyewitnesses recounted the horror of the massive inferno at a private hospital in Madhya Pradesh’s Jabalpur that claimed eight lives.

A massive fire broke out at New Life Multi-specialty hospital, at Damoh Naka in Jabalpur on Monday. (ANI)

“It started as a small fire on the ground floor, but suddenly we heard a loud explosion and fire engulfed the major part of the hospital,” said Ramkumar Patel, a security guard outside the New Life Multi-speciality Hospital near Damoh Naka of Jabalpur. “Many people could not find a way out and died.”

The hospital, which came up in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic, was running in a three-storey building without proper infrastructure. “Most of the doctors here are on temporary basis and a majority of the patients from the poor background come for treatment under the Ayushman scheme,” said an employee of the hospital, requesting anonymity.

“Those who were on the ground floor managed to come out through the windows, but patients admitted on the first floor were affected the most,” said Laxmibai, who was among those rescued through the ground-floor window. “After the explosion, smoke and heat filled the hospital. Furniture and clothes added to the fire.”

Halki Bai Ahirwar (30), who was admitted for a surgery, said, “I heard an explosion and everybody started running. Before I could understand anything, the hospital was engulfed with smoke. I got unconscious.” He said he feels lucky to be still alive.

By late evening, relatives of several people killed in the fire demanded criminal action against the hospital administration.

Ramesh Singh, relative of Vir Singh, a staff nurse who was among the eight people killed in the incident, said: “He was the only earning member in the family of seven. He got married a year-and-a-half ago and has a three-month-old daughter.” Blaming the hospital for the nurse’s death, Ramesh Singh added: “He was killed as the hospital didn’t have any emergency exit. It is not an accident but a murder.”

Sonu Yadav, a 26-year-old resident of Chitrakoot in Satna district, and his aunt Ansuiya Yadav had come to the hospital to meet a relative admitted there. While a rescue team managed to save the patient, both Sonu and Ansuiya died.

Sonu’s maternal uncle Rajesh Yadav said: “I also came with Sonu but returned home after seeing the patient in the morning. When I heard about the fire, I was scared because the hospital was over congested.”

The hospital administration is yet to respond on the accident.