For the second time in 48 hours, Maharashtra was shocked when at least 14 Covid-19 patients, including five women, perished in a major fire that broke out at a private hospital in Virar town in Palghar district of Maharashtra, around 80 km north of Mumbai, early on Friday, officials said.
The conflagration was noticed at around 3.15 am in the ICU ward located on the second floor of the four-storeyed Vijay Vallabh Hospital at Tirupati Nagar in Virar.
The Vasai-Virar Municipal Corporation (VVMC) immediately rushed 10 fire-fighting teams and other rescue agencies to the spot to battle the blaze, even as horrified and grieving relatives made a beeline for the hospital.
The fire — caused by a suspected short-circuit in the hospital’s air-conditioning plant — was brought under control and extinguished after two hours at around 5.50 am, said VVMC Chief Fire Officer, Dilip Palav.
While 13 patients perished in the flames that engulfed the ICU, one seriously injured victim died later while around four others undergoing treatment in the ill-fated ICU were rushed to safety before the blaze spread further. This is the second major tragedy during the pandemic in the past 48 hours after an oxygen gas leak at a Nashik Municipal Corporation-run hospital on April 21 claimed 29 lives so far.