Maharashtra: 13 patients die after fire breaks out at COVID hospital in Vasai

Thirteen people died on Friday after a fire broke out at a COVID-19 hospital in Maharashtra’s Palghar district, reports ANI. The fire broke out in the ICU on the second floor of the four-storeyed Vijay Vallabh Hospital at Virar around 3 am, reports PTI quoting an official. Firefighters extinguished the blaze at 5.20 am, he added. Virar is over 50 km from Mumbai.

There were 17 patients in the ICU when the fire broke out, the official said. Four patients were rescued and shifted to other hospitals in the area, he added.

The incident comes two days after 22 COVID-19 patients suffocated to death when their oxygen supply stopped suddenly because of a malfunction in the main storage at a civic-run hospital at Nashik in Maharashtra.

The Maharashtra government announced a probe by a seven-member committee into the incident and Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said that financial assistance of Rs five lakh would be provided to the families of each victim.