Lucknow: Two elders died and 145 cardiac patients were rescued after a fire broke out in the ICU and General ward of LPS Institute Cardiology in Kanpur district of Uttar Pradesh on Sunday morning.
About a dozen fire tenders were pressed to douse the rising flames which engulfed the first floor of the hospital housing ICU and General Wards. Senior district and police officials rushed to the hospital to supervise the rescue operation.
The Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has ordered a probe into the fire and sought details by evening. He has also dispatched a team of Cardiologists and experts from Lucknow to take care of seriously ill patients shifted to other hospitals.
Taking lessons from the Mumbai hospital fire, the Chief Minister has also directed the fire department to check fire safety measures in all hospitals across the state.
The first floor of the hospital was filled with thick smokes making the rescue of critical patients admitted at the ICU difficult. Hospital staff and safai karamcharis broke open window panes to rescue many patients.
In the incident, Rasoolan Bi (8) died due to asphyxia. She was admitted there with severe breathing problems. Another patient Tek Chandra also died after he was taken off from the ventilator during the rescue operation.
Relatives, hospital staff, fire brigade personnel and police did an excellent job in carrying out the rescue operation saving life of over 145 patients. Ambulances were called from other hospitals to shift patients to other hospitals.
“We have rescued all patients from the ground and the first floor. They have been shifted to other hospitals and another building of the hospital,”s claimed Assistant Commissioner of Police Mahendra Singh.
The District Magistrate Alok Kumar said that all hospitals in the district have put on high alert and directed to keep beds ready for shifting of serious patients. Police said that the short circuit seems to be the reason behind the fire.
