At least six persons, including a minor child, were killed in a major fire at a private hospital in Tamil Nadu's Dindigul district on Thursday. Three of the rescued people are on ventilator support.
At least seven people, including a boy, were killed in a fire at a private hospital in #TamilNadu's #Dindigul on Thursday night.
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The incident took place at around 8pm at City Hospital on Trichy Road.
Sources said that an electrical short circuit at the medical facility was… pic.twitter.com/W4kApktFOj
All the six victims were found unconscious in a lift, the Tamil Nadu Police and personnel from the Fire and Rescue Department told the press. When rushed to the doctors, all of them were declared dead, a PTI report said. They were identified by The Hindu as Suruli (50) and Subbulakshmi (45) from Theni, Mariammmal (50), Manimurugan (28), Rajashekar (35) and a minor girl, all hailing from Dindigul. Suffocation is suspected to have led to their demise.
What caused the fire at Dindigul hospital fire?
The fire, which was suspected to have been caused by an electrical short circuit, reportedly broke out around 9: 30 PM on Thursday night. The flames engulfed the four-storey building of the City Ortho Hospital on the Dindigul-Trichy National Highway and all patients were evacuated to safety apart from the group who got stuck in the lift. At least a hundred people were at the hospital when the tragedy occurred.
The people trapped in the lift were found after the Fire and Rescue Department safely brought out about 30 in-patients from the hospital.
The evacuated persons have been admitted to the Dindigul Government Medical College Hospital. As many as 50 ambulances were on standby at the City Ortho Hospital immediately after the recuse efforts began, The South First said in a report.
Initially, three units of fire-fighting trucks reached the hospital before more joned in. V visuals showed fire and smoke billowing from the hospital building, with fire tenders pressed into service to put down the flames.
The rescue operations were completed by around 11:00 PM and a probe was launched to confirm whether a short circuit caused the fire. As things stand, it is suspected that the short circuit happened at a spot near the entrance of the hospital.
