Fire breaks out at Kozhikode MCH again, patients evacuated
Patients were evacuated once again when another fire broke out on the sixth floor of the PMSSY block that houses the casualty ward of the Government Medical College Hospital (MCH), Kozhikode, on Monday afternoon.
On May 2, 151 patients were shifted following after a minor explosion in the UPS room attached to the MRI scanning unit on the ground floor of the same building, causing thick smoke to spread to other parts of the seven-storey structure. Some of the 114 people shifted to other wards in the same hospital were brought back to the building on Monday morning.
The latest round of fire and smoke emanating from the vicinity of an operating theatre on the sixth floor is reported to have happened when officials from the State Electrical Inspectorate were checking the electrical connections there. The panic-stricken patients admitted on the second, third, fourth, and fifth floors were rushed on wheelchairs and stretchers to other wards in adjacent buildings of the hospital through the skywalk facility. According to some sources, there were at least 35 patients on the fourth floor. Fire and Rescue Services personnel brought the situation under control in two hours.
Possible reason
Meanwhile, questions have been raised about the hurry to readmit patients to the building without enforcing proper security measures after the May 2 incident. Health Minister Veena George had said during a visit on May 3 that the patients would be readmitted only after ensuring proper precautions. Sources said that glitches in the electrical wiring could be a reason for the latest mishap.
When the news of the fire breakout spread, M.K. Raghavan, Kozhikode MP, K.P. Prakash Babu, BJP leader, and Youth Congress leaders staged protests on the hospital premises. Mr. Raghavan later told the media that the services would be resumed only after thorough checking.
Fire auditing ordered
Ms. George told the media in Thiruvananthapuram that a short circuit had happened in the electrical wiring on the ceiling during a checking on the fifth and sixth floors. An order had been issued to conduct a comprehensive fire auditing of the building. The Minister admitted that there had been lapses in readmitting the patients before taking security precautions. A committee of experts had been set up to inquire into the technical safety of the building in the wake of recurring fire accidents, she added.
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