LUCKNOW: A seven-month old infant and a middle aged woman died while two others sustained injuries after a fire broke out in the operation theater of Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of medical sciences (SGPGIMS) on Monday.
The incident took place at the combined OT complex located on the first floor of the old building causing panic among patients, attendants and hospital staff on duty.
A stampede-like situation prevailed as the smoke had engulfed the entire complex.
Police officials said that the identities of the child and the woman were yet to be ascertained and they were probing the possible causes of fire.
Taking cognizance of the incident, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath directed senior officers and fire brigade teams to reach the spot and carry out relief work expeditiously.
The CM also directed the district administration officials to immediately take the injured to the hospital and provide proper treatment.
Deputy CM Brajesh Pathak, who also holds the medical education portfolio, confirmed the death of a woman and ordered a high-level enquiry headed by Principal Secretary, Medical, Health and Family Welfare Department, Partha Sarthi Sen Sharma.
“The incident is very unfortunate and tragic and the government is with the families of the victims. Instructions have also been issued to conduct safety audits of all government hospitals and operation theaters across the state including
SGPGI
,” he said, adding that proper treatment is being provided to the injured.
Deputy Inspector General of Police, Jugal Kishore Tiwari, said that the fire department received an
SOS
from PGI around 12.58 pm and instantly rushed four fire tenders to the spot.
“The fire had spread to the entire floor, however, we have controlled the fire. The exact cause of the fire is being identified, it is a matter of investigation,” said Jugal Kishore, DIG, UP fire service headquarters who also reached at the incident site.
“From OT section ten people including a five-month-old child were rescued. We took control of the fire in 30 minutes, but smoke proved to be a hindrance in the relief work,” said CFO, Mangesh Kumar. Smoke exhausters were used to emit out the plumes of smoke. At least one hundred others in the complex were also evacuated. The situation was normalized in about two hours, he said.
The incident impacted patient care services in the institution, which has been adjudged as the third best government sector hospital in India. Several planned surgeries were stalled while patients in the post operative care ward were also shifted.
Sharing details of the incident, Director SGPGI Professor RK Dhiman said the woman was operated in the endocrine operation theatre and the infant was a patient of cardiac ailment and both were choked to death. “We took them to the nephrology ICU for resuscitation but the two failed to gain consciousness,” he said.
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