Fire Broke Out In Jaipur's SMS Hospital, 8 Dead

A massive fire broke out late Sunday night at the Trauma Centre ICU of Jaipur's Sawai Man Singh (SMS) Hospital, killing 8 critical patients. The blaze reportedly began in the storage area due to a short circuit, quickly filling the Neuro ICU with thick smoke. Eleven patients were inside at the time. Relatives allege hospital negligence and delay in evacuation, claiming they had to rescue their loved ones themselves as staff fled amid the chaos. An inquiry has been ordered into the incident.

The 8 people who died had life-threatening medical conditions that required constant treatment in the intensive care unit. Evacuations forced by the fire denied all eight access to critical care for neurological illnesses, and so they died, SMS Hospital Superintendent Sushil Bhati said.

"No one died from the fire," Dr Bhati thrice. "There was a fire in the ICU (and) there was a lot of smoke. Because of that, we shifted the patients. No one was injured separately." Asked again if the eight who died did not lose their lives in the fire itself, Bhati said, "No, they did not die because of the fire. They were serious (i.e., critically ill) patients. Such patients, who are already very sensitive, were shifted to another ICU because of the fire and gas."

Trauma in-charge Dr Anurag Dhakad said 11 patients were treated in the ICU, which contained patients suffering from serious neurological conditions, at the time. The fire spread quickly through the ICU and the rest of the building, triggering panic among other patients and their families, some of whom later accused the hospital staff of negligence. The staff, they said, had been warned about the smoke but passed it off as 'normal'.

The families also said the fire alarm was not activated, and there were no extinguishers, and, perhaps most damning, that hospital staff ran to save their own lives during the fire.

Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma visited the hospital to take stock of the situation and set up a panel - led by Iqbal Khan, Medical Department Commissioner - to investigate the fire.