Smoke and scare: controversy over smoke at Kozhikode MCH building refuses to die down

The Hindu

08-05-2025

K.M. Ashraf, a health-care volunteer, was walking up to the scanning unit on the ground floor of the Surgical Super Specialty, Accident and Emergency Care Block of the Government Medical College Hospital, Kozhikode, around 7.50 p.m. on May 2. He wanted to find out whether it was time to shift a patient to the procedure room.
'I heard some knocking sounds from the UPS room opposite the 'red area' where people in critical condition are admitted. Shortly, I saw plumes of smoke billowing out through its door,' he says.
Sensing trouble, Ashraf and a few passers-by rushed to alert doctors and caregivers. Some of them sprang into action and broke open the door. They quickly grabbed the fire extinguishers mounted on the walls and started dousing the smoke.
Gasping for breath
'Soon, everyone was gasping for breath as thick smoke engulfed the premises. We felt a burning sensation as well. All of us rushed to the 'red area' to evacuate the patients who were on ventilator support,' Ashraf recalls.
The seven-storey building with a glass facade in its middle, constructed under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY), has the triage of the casualty ward on the ground floor. It also houses a host of operating theatres and an intensive care unit (ICU). Though inaugurated in 2023, the block has not been fully functional. The casualty section and some theatres were recently shifted to the building. Being one of the major public health-care institutions in northern Kerala, the hospital caters to the medical needs of patients from at least five districts.
Intermittent power outages
According to a non-medical staff member who was on duty at the time of the incident, there had been intermittent power outages in the building after rain lashed the area earlier in the day. Thereafter, one of the batteries in the UPS room attached to the MRI scanning unit on the ground floor could have burst after a suspected electrical short-circuit. It is suspected that one of the batteries could have caught fire, later damaging all the other 34 in the UPS room.
In no time, the area was engulfed in smoke and the stench of burnt electric wire and batteries filled the air. There was panic all around. None was prepared for such an eventuality. People were seen covering their faces with whatever piece of cloth they could get hold of. Some tied handkerchiefs over their faces, and a few others used face masks. Another one was seen removing his shirt to tie it around his face. 'There was a haze everywhere, and nothing could be seen,' a volunteer recalled.
The smoke, which initially covered the ground floor of the building, began spreading to the upper floors later. Fire and Rescue Services personnel, volunteers, health-care workers, police personnel, and residents joined the rescue mission. The creaking sounds of wheelchairs, portable beds, and stretchers rent the air as the patients were taken to the front yard from the smoke-filled rooms. Within minutes, a war-like situation emerged outside the building.
Ambulance sirens
Ambulance sirens blared across the front yard as patients in serious condition were shifted into them and driven away to safety. 'Suddenly, someone alerted the rescue workers that there were a few patients in the ICU. However, some of the caregivers refused to move out to safety as the patients were in an intubated condition. We explained to them the gravity of the situation and convinced them to get out as quickly as possible,' says a hospital staff member who actively participated in the evacuation.
V.T. Baiju, a casual labourer from Koyilandy, had accompanied his aunt Thanka to the casualty ward after she sustained injuries in a freak accident. 'Smoke suddenly filled the surgery department where the doctor was about to examine my aunt. We managed to slip out of the building through the back door. She was later shifted to a private hospital in the city in an ambulance,' he says. As many as 151 patients were relocated to wards in other buildings in the hospital and some private health-care institutions in the city. The Fire and Rescue Services personnel entered the building after all the patients were shifted elsewhere, another hospital staffer adds.
MLA alleges asphyxiation
Meanwhile, the incident kicked off a controversy with T. Siddique, Kalpetta MLA, alleging that at least three patients, including Naseera, a resident of his constituency, died of asphyxiation during the evacuation. There were also allegations that the bodies of five patients, who died of asphyxiation, were shifted to the morgue.
Yousuf Ali, Naseera's brother, alleges that the patients from the ICU were evacuated after snapping the ventilator support. He also alleges that the emergency exit door was found locked, which hampered the evacuation. 'We had to smash a nearby glass door to take out the patients,' Yousuf Ali says. He also alleges that though Naseera was provided ventilator support again after being shifted to another ward, she passed away soon.
G. Maneesh, a resident of West Hill in Kozhikode, was standing outside the building when his brother asked him to rush to the 'red area' where his father, K. Gopalan, had been admitted.
'I was told that there is smoke in the block. Initially, I wondered if the health-care staff was fumigating the area to ward off mosquitoes,' he says. Maneesh says that soon the nurses and other staff took steps to remove the ventilator support of his father to take him out of the building. 'We had almost made up our minds that our father would be no more. Soon after we took him out, the doctor declared him dead. Even if the ventilator support had not been removed, he would have died in an hour. Later, we helped evacuate other patients,' he says.
Though the fire was brought under control by 10.30 p.m., the controversy over the death of five patients refused to die down, forcing the authorities to hold post-mortem examinations in all the cases to ascertain the cause of death.
Maneesh and two others have filed police complaints seeking an inquiry into the circumstances that led to the death of their dear ones.
Portable ventilator system
K.G. Sajeeth Kumar, Principal, Government Medical College, Kozhikode, says that four of the five patients who died on the day were in a critical condition and on ventilator support. The fifth patient had attempted suicide and was brought dead to the hospital, he says. He claims that four of the dead were evacuated from the building before smoke engulfed the area. 'It is highly unlikely that smoke could have entered their lungs,' he says. The Principal asserts that those on ventilator support were shifted from the building after connecting them with a portable ventilator system. All the other patients in a serious condition were given oxygen support, he adds.
Preliminary post-mortem examination reports indicated that a heart attack and not asphyxiation was the cause of death in the four cases. The hospital authorities are awaiting the results of the examination of their internal organs.
The accident, meanwhile, raised pertinent questions on the emergency preparedness in the hospital, which caters to the medical needs of hundreds of patients every day.
M.K. Raghavan, Kozhikode MP, alleges that the government has not bothered to appoint enough staff at the building even two years after its inauguration. 'There were huge security lapses. The panic-stricken patients did not know how to get out of the smoke-filled building. A portion of the compound wall had to be demolished to make way for people and vehicles to get out of the complex, as there was a heavy rush near the main entrance,' says Raghavan.
Fire safety audits
Siddique alleges that the hospital lacks a separate wing to address the fire and safety concerns. 'Fire safety audits and fire drills have not been held in the new building so far. The hospital does not have a proper evacuation plan. There was no fire exit signage either,' he points out.
Sources in the Fire and Rescue Services say that a proposal to set up a fire station near the hospital is gathering dust. The nearest fire station is at Vellimadukunnu, around 4 km away. A senior official in the department says that fire safety audits are done by designated agencies as required by the hospital authorities. Fire drills are conducted either by the trained staff at the hospitals or by the Fire and Rescue Services personnel. He suggests that the security staff be trained to use the fire hydrants and fire extinguishers as specified by the National Accreditation Board for Hospitals or the International Organisation for Standardisation.
Dr. Sajeeth Kumar, however, dismisses these allegations claiming that a fire alarm had sounded soon after smoke was noticed in the building. Fire safety audits are being regularly done in the hospital. Steps are being taken to inspect the electrical wiring in the wake of the accident. Fire drills will be conducted soon, he says.
As multiple agencies began probes into the incident, a fire broke out on the sixth floor of the same building on May 5, raising further safety concerns. This time too, the patients, who were brought back from other wards of the hospital, were evacuated from the area.
Raghavan has sought a probe to ascertain whether there have been any lapses in the construction of the building and its electrical wiring. Faced with mounting criticism, the Health department has decided to reopen the new block only after a comprehensive fire and safety audit and after putting in place the required facilities.
The blaze could be brought under control before it caused much damage. Yet, the incident calls for better disaster preparedness in public sector health-care hospitals.
' Four of the five patients who died on the day were in a critical condition and on ventilator support. The fifth patient had attempted suicide and was brought dead to the hospital.'K.G. Sajeeth Kumar Principal, Government Medical College, Kozhikode