Delhi: Fire breaks out in childern’s ward at GTB Hospital, no casulaties

New Delhi: A fire broke out in the children’s ward of a multi-storeyed Delhi hospital in the wee hours on Saturday but all the patients and staff there were evacuated safely. The incident occurred at 3:35am at the Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital at Dilshad Garden in east Delhi.

“The fire was triggered by overheating of the ventilator following which the electrical wire also caught fire. Our doctors and nurses saw it and immediately raised an alarm. All the 34 children in the ward were evacuated and taken to another ward. No one was injured in the incident. The fire was brought under control by 4:35 AM,” a senior official of the hospital said.

Six fire tenders were rushed to the spot after the fire was reported in the ward located on the first floor of the multi-storeyed hospital, at 3:55 AM, a senior official of the Delhi Fire Service said.

A major fire had broken out at a private hospital in Bhubaneswar Monday night which has left at least 23 people dead. “The fire call from GTB Hospital was received at 3.55 AM. Six fire tenders were rushed to the spot including one Bronto skylift fire tender,” the official said.

“The fire started from room number 1104 from a ventilator there and was doused by 4.20 AM,” the official said.

A top official of the Delhi Fire Service said the GTB Hospital has “the fire safety clearance”. The senior official of the city government-run hospital said, “Fire Service has certified us to reuse the facility after inspecting it.”

In the wake of the fire tragedy at SUM Hospital in Odisha, the Delhi government has ordered a fire safety audit at all its hospitals and sought a report on it to ensure no such mishap occurs in the national capital. There are 36 hospitals run under the Delhi government, with Lok Nayak Jaiprakash (LNJP) Hospital being the biggest.

The seven-storeyed GTB Hospital, with a capacity of 1,500 beds is one of the busiest in the city. Hospital authorities said “nearly 40 per cent of the patients come from Uttar Pradesh”.