Advertisement
Advertisement
India
Get more with myNEWS
A personalised news feed of stories that matter to you
Learn more
People carry a man to safety after he was evacuated from a government hospital due to fire in Mumbai, India on Monday. Photo: Reuters

Hospital fire in India kills at least six and injures 129 after 10 engines are needed to bring blaze under control

  • The blaze in the government-run hospital in Mumbai was believed to have been caused by an electrical short circuit, said police
India

At least six people died and 129 others were injured in a fire that broke out on Monday in a hospital in Mumbai, India’s financial and entertainment capital, police said.

The fire in the five-floor government-run ESIC Kamgar Hospital in the suburban Andheri area was believed to have been caused by an electrical short circuit, said police officer A.P. Lokhand.

A woman sits in a stretcher after she was rescued. Photo: Reuters

It took 10 engines to bring the fire under control, while 15 ambulances rushed the injured to other hospitals, Lokhand said.

The Press Trust of India news agency said most of the injured were in stable condition.

A rescued person is rushed out of the burning hospital. Photo: AP

A top fire official, P.S. Rahangdale, said the smoke engulfed the entire building and rescuers were searching all the floors to see whether any patients, hospital staff or visitors were still trapped there.

Rahangdale said the fire was restricted to the third floor, from where doctors, nurses and patients were rescued.

A rescued person is attended to outside the hospital in Mumbai. Photo: AP

A Times of India newspaper report said 49 patients were rescued and taken to nearby hospitals.

Fires are common in India, where building laws and safety norms are often flouted by builders and residents. In December last year, a late-night fire in a Mumbai restaurant killed 15 people.

Post