Two staff of the Murshidabad Medical College and Hospital in West Bengal were killed in a fire that broke out on the premises on Saturday. The fire triggered panic among hundreds of patients and the hospital staff.
Smoke engulfed the entire hospital and screams of patients rent the air. Panic-stricken patients ran for their safety, creating a near stampede.
Newborns in the Sick Newborn Care Unit (SNCU) were brought out of the hospital premises and kept on the lawns as their parents and hospital staff attended to them.
According to the authorities, the two nursing staff died due to suffocation and asphyxiation.
Initial reports suggested that the main exit gate of emergency was locked and the patients and hospital staff could not come out of the building after the fire broke out.
“No patients have sustained injury. We are trying to bring back the newborns in SNCU,” R S Shukla, principal secretary, Health Department, told presspersons.
A team from the department had been sent to the hospital and the situation would soon be brought under control, he said.
Eyewitnesses said there was virtually no disaster management apparatus present in the hospital.
