Mumbai fire, 10 Covid patients killed, 70 rescued #Bhandup

10 patients of Covid-19 died after a fire broke out in a hospital located in a mall in Mumbai, while 70 other patients were evacuated safely. A police officer said on Friday that a fire broke out at Sunrise Hospital in the Dreams Mall building in the Bhandup area shortly after midnight. The hospital said that two patients died due to Covid-19 and no one died due to the fire.

The official said that the hospital is situated on the top floor of the four-storey mall and when there was a fire, 76 patients were present, most of whom were undergoing treatment for Covid-19. The incident has taken place in Mumbai amid increasing cases of Corona virus. The city received 5,504 new infections on Thursday, the highest number of cases a day since the onset of the epidemic.

Sources in the BMC control room said the cause of the fire has not yet been ascertained. The official said that 20 fire engines, 15 water tankers and ambulances were sent to the spot. Efforts are underway to overcome the fire. He said that firefighters took out 70 patients and sent them to another hospital. Firemen are investigating whether any patient is still trapped in the hospital.

Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar reached the spot and expressed surprise that there is a hospital inside the mall. “I have seen a hospital inside a mall for the first time,” he said, adding that if there is any irregularity in running the hospital here, action will be taken.

The hospital said in a statement, “A fire broke out on the first floor of Dreams Mall, Bhandup and smoke reached the Sunrise Hospital on the top floor. When the fire alarm sounded, all the patients were safely evacuated as the smoke was reaching the hospital. “It said,” Two bodies were also taken out. Other patients were referred to nearby Kovid-19 centers and private hospitals. ‘

The statement said that the hospital started last year in the ‘extraordinary circumstances’ of the epidemic and helped save many lives. This hospital is running following all other rules including the license received from fire brigade department, earning home license.

A civic body official said the BMC had sent a notice to the mall in November last year for alleged violation of fire safety rules. Former NCP MP Sanjay Dina Patil said that he too had written a letter to the BMC commissioner last year and pointed out the violation of fire safety rules there.