Fire leaves at least 8 dead at Mumbai hospital

21st December 2018

The fire brigade received a call around 4pm about the blaze at the government-run ESIC Kamgar Hospital located at Marol in suburban Andheri. Ten fire engines responded, evacuating the patients and bringing the fire under control.

Patients were moved to other hospitals including Cooper Hospital, Holy Spirit Hospital, P Thackeray Trauma Hospital, Hiranandani Hospital, Siddharth Hospital and Seven Hills hospital.

A baby girl was among the deceased due to the fire. At its height “176 persons, including three firemen, were being treated in city hospitals,” an official from Disaster Management Unit of BMC stated. “Among the admitted, over 25 are critical while 26 have been discharged after primary treatment,” he continued.

“The cause of the fire is not known yet. Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) is responsible for the fire audits, whether they carried out fire audits or not, that will be
investigated,” Mumbai Mayor V Mahadeshwar told news agency ANI.

But MD Ogle, deputy chief fire officer at the MIDC told NDTV that 15 days ago the hospital had failed a fire safety test. The fire department had discovered that the sprinkler and detection systems were not in line with provisions.

A short-circuit is suspected of starting the fire and there are reports that flammable material kept on the ground floor may have led to the flames spreading rapidly.