Tension brews over smoke at Kolkata hospital

Smoke billowing from the emergency ward of the state-run SSKM Hospital in Kolkata on Wednesday led to several patients being shifted outside for their safety, police said.

Smoke billowing from the emergency ward of the state-run SSKM Hospital in Kolkata on Wednesday led to several patients being shifted outside for their safety, police said.

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According to the police, the smoke was coming out from the air conditioning ducts of the ward. Three fire tenders rushed to the spot to bring the situation under control.

Minister of State for Health Chandrima Bhattacharya, who visited the hospital, said situation was under control.

"The patients who were brought outside because of safety reason, are now being shifted to the emergency ward," Bhattacharya added.

In December 2011, 90 patients and staffers died when a blaze in the basement Kolkata's well-known AMRI (Advanced Medicare Research Institute) Hospital engulfed its annexe building with noxious smoke, trapping helpless patients while doctors and others fled to safety.