Fire was brought under control and patients have been shifted to other hospitals, officials said.
Highlights
- Fire started in dialysis ward of SUM hospital in Bhubaneswar
- 19 people have died in the accident
- The fire is now under control
At least 19 people have died and over 100 injured when a massive fire broke out at Bhubaneswar's Institute of Medical Sciences and SUM Hospital on Monday evening.
Here are the 10 updates in this story:
The fire is suspected to have started from the dialysis ward of the hospital, located on the first floor, possibly due to an electrical short circuit, around 7.30 in the evening. From there it spread to the Intensive Care Unit and the medicine wards.
"14 people were declared dead at Capital Hospital and five succumbed to injuries at AMRI Hospital. A total of 106 others were undergoing treatment for injuries," said Health Secretary Arti Ahuja.
The state government has ordered a high-level probe into the incident.
Hospital officials said at the time of incident more than 500 indoor patients were in the building. All patients were evacuated and injured were moved to other hospitals.
Calling the tragedy "mind-numbing" and expressing anguish for the loss of lives, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted, "Spoke to Minister @JPNadda & asked him to facilitate transfer of all those injured to AIIMS. Hope the injured recover quickly."
"I have spoken to Director, AIIMS Bhubaneswar to provide all necessary support and help the patients in the best way possible. @narendramodi," Health Minister JP Nadda tweeted.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who visited the injured in other hospitals, declared free treatment for all injured. He also tweeted saying that he had briefed Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the treatment of the injured and the monitoring of the situation.
At least seven fire tenders were put into service to control the blaze and over a dozen ambulances deployed to shift the critical patients to other hospitals. Many patients were rescued by breaking window panes, an eyewitness said.
In 2011, a major blaze had engulfed AMRI Hospital in Kolkata, killing more than 90 people -- 85 of them were patients at the hospital.
The Odisha government has set up a helpline number: 9439991226.
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