Mulund hospital fire: Mumbai civic body chief sets up committee to probe incident

A day after a fire was reported at Apex Hospital in Mulund, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Tuesday set up a four-member committee to probe the incident and the subsequent shifting of Covid-19 patients to another hospital.

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Municipal commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal said, “We have set up a committee to inquire into the Mulund’s Apex Hospital incident. The committee will investigate all aspects of the incident and submit a report within a week.”

The Mumbai Fire Brigade (MFB) will also conduct an inquiry into the incident.

The MFB said it will investigate how the generator got overheated and whether proper maintenance was being done from the fire safety point of view.

A senior MFB officer said, “We will a check on the maintenance work. Other aspects of the fire safety point of view will be investigated. However, at no point were the patients under exposure to fire, as the generator is placed outside the hospital building.”

After the blaze on Monday evening, 40 patients were shifted to different hospitals nearby, during which, one critical patient died on the way, while another patient who was shifted to Fortis Hospital died on Tuesday morning.

A statement by Fortis Hospital said, “Of the 11 patients that were admitted, eight need intensive care and two are in stable condition. A 54-year-old male patient was in a critical state and was on ventilator support. He suffered multi-organ failure followed by a cardiac arrest. Despite efforts, the patient passed away at 8:15am.”

On Monday at around 6.20pm, a fire broke out in the generator of the Apex Hospital. Post this, around 40 patients including Covid-19 patients were shifted to nearby hospitals, including BMC’s jumbo care centre. During the shifting, an 82-year-old Covid-19 patient who was on ventilator support died. The generator was being used since morning due to power failure.

Vivek Singh, administrator with Apex Hospital said, “We were informed that power supply storage might take time, hence we shifted all the patients. The generator was used almost for 10 hours and there was no other option available at that point of time. We do not know how it got overheated and caught fire. Unfortunately, one patient died while being shifted to another hospital. The patient was already in a critical condition; however, we took all safety measures during the transit. We will cooperate with all the government agencies for any enquiry or probe.”

Overall, 28 patients of the total 40, admitted at Apex Hospital were taken to Fortis Hospital. However, out of the 28 patients, 11 were admitted and the rest, after being attended for emergency medical attention, were shifted to nearby peripheral hospitals.

Meanwhile, local BJP MLA Mihir Kotecha from Mulund has demanded an investigation into the