Four children died as a massive fire broke out in the paediatric department of the government Kamla Nehru Hospital in Madhya Pradesh capital Bhopal on Monday night.
Medical education minister Vishvas Sarang, who was on the spot, told media around 12.30am of Tuesday that 36 of the 40 children admitted to the paediatric ward were safe and had been shifted. He also said that ex-gratia of Rs 4 lakh each will be paid to the kin of deceased children.
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had confirmed the deaths of three children around midnight on his Twitter handle. This first confirmation came almost three hours after the fire broke out. All through these hours, huge commotion and confusion prevailed on the hospital campus as the kin of the children admitted to the paediatric ward could not get any information about the situation inside and were prevented from venturing in.
More children and others including hospital staff were reported to be injured in the accident and there were visuals of them being shifted out in stretchers. The chief minister wished for their early recovery in a tweet, but no other details were available about the injured even after midnight.
He tweeted: “The incident of fire in the child ward of Kamla Nehru Hospital is very sad. Rescue work was conducted speedily, the fire was controlled but unfortunately three children who were admitted with severe illness could not be saved. The untimely demise of children is an unbearable pain. I offer deep condolences to the families of these children. I wish for a quick recovery of those injured.”
The chief minister also directed a high-level probe into the cause of the incident. The probe will be done by additional chief secretary (public health and medical education) Mohammad Suleman, the CM tweeted.
There were conflicting reports about the cause of the fire – ranging from short circuit to blast of cylinder-but no confirmation was available.
The Kamla Nehru Hospital, basically a Bhopal gas tragedy relief hospital, is situated on the campus of the apex Hamidia Hospital in the state capital. The paediatric ward of the Hamidia Hospital is situated on the third floor of the Kamla Nehru hospital building and is slated to be soon shifted to the new building of the Hamidia Hospital. But the tragedy struck before the proposed shifting.
Eight fire tenders reached the spot, yet the fire could be controlled only after about three hours. The dense smoke inside the ward made rescue operations tough, sources said.
Before the CM tweeted to confirm the deaths, former chief minister Kamal Nath had tweeted to express hope that everyone was safe in the fire incident and also called for high-level probe and strict action against those responsible for the incident. He also demanded that the government make all arrangements for proper medical attention to children by shifting them to other hospitals.
Earlier on October 7, fire had broken out on the second floor of the new building on Hamidia Hospital campus. This fire was in the store room of the building contractor and was controlled in an hour. Fortunately, much loss was not reported.