Fire in critical care unit of Bengal hospital; one dies while being moved

55-year-old Savera Khatun’s oxygen mask slipped off while she was being transferred out of the critical care unit (CCU), said hospital staff.

A patient died after a ventilator machine caught fire in the critical care unit (CCU) of North Bengal Medical College and Hospital (NBMCH), the largest government referral hospital of North Bengal.

The incident took place on Thursday morning.

55-year-old Savera Khatun’s oxygen mask slipped off while she was being transferred out of the critical care unit (CCU), said hospital staff.

Ten patients were present in the CCU when the fire broke out, out of which six were on a ventilator. “Nine patients from the CCU were shifted to a nearby private hospital,” Kausik Samandar, superintendent of North Bengal Medical College and Hospital said.

The fire started around 6 am from the ventilator machine attached to bed number 3 and Khatun, a resident of Islampur in North Dinajpur district, was on bed number 2.

“The incident is being investigated and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has been informed about it,” said Gautam Deb, state tourism minister, who visited the hospital after the incident.

NBMCH is in Siliguri, about 557 km away from Kolkata.