Some staff members and even some patients were brought down from the roof of a hospital's entrance using ladders after a massive fire broke out in its operation theatre, in Visakhapatnam on Thursday morning. Teams of firefighters and the police have rushed to the spot and there have been no reports of any injuries so far. The police commissioner said all the patients have been successfully evacuated.
The fire broke out at Indus Hospital in Visakhapatnam's Jagadamba Junction and visuals from the spot showed black smoke billowing from the building and covering at least three floors. A team of paramedics could also be seen running with a patient on a stretcher.
Visakhapatnam Police Commissioner A Ravi Shankar said the fire started in an operation theatre around 11 am but no procedure was underway at the time.
"All 57 patients have been shifted out of the hospital and so have the doctors, nurses and other staff members who were present at the time. Some of them have ingested smoke and a short circuit or a nitrous oxide leak is suspected to be the cause of the blaze," he said.
Most of the patients have been shifted to King George Hospital.
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