A minor fire broke out in Bengaluru’s Malathi Manipal Hospital on Wednesday morning, leading the hospital administration to evacuate the building of 40 patients. According to the latest reports, no casualties have been reported.
The Hindu reported that two fire tenders doused the fire. The fire alarm was sounded after smoke was spotted by the hospital staff on the first floor of the hospital.
All the 40 patients, including nine people admitted to the Intensive Care Unit, were shifted to another Manipal Hospital located on the Old Airport Road. The Malathi Manipal Hospital is located in Jayanagar 9th block.
There are conflicting reports about where the fire originated.
According to The New Indian Express, the fire broke out close to the ICU at around 9.45am. However, The Hindu reported that the fire broke out in the UPS room.
Preliminary investigations suggest that a short circuit in the first floor of this hospital had caused the fire.
"There was a short circuit on the first floor of the hospital. Now it is under control and some of the patients will be shifted back to the floor," CEO of Malathi Manipal Hospital, Dr Pramod Krishnan told TNIE.
In April, a fire had broken out in the laboratory of a hospital in central Bengaluru in the early hours of morning. In that case, too, a short circuit was thought to be the cause of the fire. Fortunately, no casualties were reported in that incident.
There have been major fire accidents causing loss of life in the country in the recent past, however. Less than a year ago, in October, 2016 a fire accident in a private hospital in Bhubaneswar claimed the lives of 22 persons including patients, and injured another 105. That fire was also triggered by a short circuit in the dialysis unit of the hospital.