BHUBANESWAR/CUTTACK: An early morning fire in Cuttack’s state-run SCB Medical College and Hospital killed 12 patients, who were fast asleep, and left 20 others injured in what seems to have been caused by a short circuit in the first floor trauma ICU.
As the flames engulfed the first floor and quickly spread to the second and third floors shortly after it was noticed at 2.40 am, horrified nurses first woke up the attendants, and helped scores of patients evacuate the state’s oldest and largest healthcare facility.
Out of the 23 patients in two ICU rooms, seven died on the spot, while three died while being shifted to other parts of the hospital. A 45-year-old man and an 11-year-old girl later died at the medicine ICU, its in-charge Jayant Panda said. The condition of four others remains critical.
The incident evokes memories of the 2016 fire at a private hospital in Bhubaneswar in which 21 patients died.
CM Mohan Charan Majhi announced a judicial commission, led by retired district judge Laxmidhar Biswal, to probe the fire. Patients’ attendants were devastated and barely able to speak even hours after the ordeal.
Niranjan Swain (63) of Kendrapada district said, “I thought my sister-in-law Menaka Rout, 54, was in the safest hands as she was recovering well after sustaining head injuries in a fall on March 1. Doctors had said she would come out of the ICU this week. Never imagined something like this.”
Hospital sources said there was a warning sign earlier, a minor spark in an overhead AC, followed by small flames that were doused. Moments later, another fire broke out and spread rapidly, prompting evacuation efforts and raising questions about whether it could have been prevented.
There was a gap of more than 15 minutes between the incident and reporting it to fire services personnel stationed on the campus.
DG (fire service) Sudhansu Sarangi said the department received information through the emergency 112 system at around 2.58 am. “Firefighters reached the spot within two minutes,” Sarangi said.
Health secretary S Aswathy said the 11 staff members injured were those who helped in the rescue operation. “They are all out of danger,” she said.
CM Mohan Charan Majhi announced an ex gratia of Rs 25 lakh each to the next of kin of deceased and ordered a judicial probe and formed a six-member fact-finding team led by development commissioner Deoranjan Kumar Singh even as President Droupadi Murmu and PM Narendra Modi expressed grief.
“If anyone is found guilty, stringent action as per law will be taken,” the CM said.
Biswal, a retired district judge, has been entrusted to analyse the sequence of events, examine role, conduct and accountability of authorities and preparedness of the hospital in dealing with such eventualities.
Ghanshyam Behera of Daspalla, who was outside the building and helped in rescuing others, was still distraught, hours after the fire.
“My father had an accident and was admitted to the third-floor ward when we heard loud noises and saw leaping fumes covering the entire place. I carried him on my shoulder and rushed outside,” he said. His father, Jadumani Behera, has been shifted to the orthopaedic ICU.
A distraught Sudipta Nayak from Bhadrak spent hours trying to trace her 17-year-old cousin, who was admitted to the trauma ICU.
“She was on ventilator support for the past eight days. She was suffering from kidney ailment and respiratory issues,” Sudipta said, adding security guards told her that Sudipta's family was asked in the morning to sign papers stating that the cousin had died.
“Shocked, she called me, but I can’t find my cousin anywhere in the hospital,” Sudipta said.
The hospital has frequently made news for its crumbling infrastructure even as the govt has announced plans to upgrade it into an ‘AIIMS Plus’ institution. A new hospital building is under construction, with the first phase scheduled for completion by June.
The Prime Minister’s Office, in an X post, termed the accident “deeply painful” and condoled the deaths. The PM announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh from the PMNRF for the next of kin of each deceased and Rs 50,000 for the injured.
Established in 1944, SCB has 250 MBBS seats, around 2,700 beds and sees a daily OPD footfall of about 4,000 patients.
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