Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik talking to a patient at a hospital in Bhubaneswar
A day after a massive fire in Bhubaneswar's SUM Hospital in which 20 people died, the hospital's medical superintendent and three others have been arrested, the police said. The arrest came after the preliminary inquiry report by the fire service officials, and all four have been accused of negligence and culpable homicide, the local police said.
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Those arrested are Superintendent of Sum Hospital Pushpraj Samantsinghar, Electrical Maintenance Engineer Amulya Sahu, Fire Safety Officer Santosh Das and Junior Electrical Engineer Malay Sahu, the police said. They have not ruled out more arrests.
The state government has ordered a high-level probe by the Director, Medical Education and Training, into the fire incident. In addition, a probe by the revenue divisional commissioner (RDC) has also been ordered, an official said.
Monday evening's fire at Bhubaneswar's Institute of Medical Sciences and SUM Hospital is suspected to have started from the dialysis ward, located on the first floor, possibly due to an electrical short circuit. From there it spread to the Intensive Care Unit and the medicine wards.
"14 people were declared dead at Capital Hospital and six succumbed to injuries at AMRI Hospital. A total of 106 others were undergoing treatment for injuries," said Health Secretary Arti Ahuja.
Health Secretary Ahuja said the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), dialysis and emergency units of the fire-hit medical facility have been sealed to ensure a proper investigation.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who visited some of the city hospitals including AIIMS and AMRI Hospital, tweeted, "Expenses for treatment of the injured persons in the fire incident to be borne by state government from CM relief fund."
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 had tweeted.
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.
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