Six patients died after a fire broke out in an intensive care unit in the Trauma and Orthopaedic Institute at Sawai Mansingh (SMS) Hospital in Jaipur late on Sunday night. According to officials, the fire is believed to have been caused by a short circuit. The fire broke out at approximately 11.20 pm in Neurosurgery ICU 1. At the time, there were 11 patients in the ICU, and the ward filled with thick smoke from the fire, witnesses said. Officials said the patients in the ICU where the fire broke out were moved to other ICUs within the trauma centre, but six people lost their lives. Trauma centre in-charge Dr Anurag Dakhad said on Monday, “Six people, two women and four men, died. Five are undergoing treatment. Fourteen other patients were admitted in a different ICU, and all were successfully evacuated to safer locations.” Later, Dakhad was removed from his post as trauma centre in-charge. The government also removed Dr Sushil Kumar Bhati as superintendent of SMS Hospital “in view of the fire accident”. A compensation of Rs 10 lakh each has been announced for the families of the victims. On Monday morning, witnesses and relatives of patients described the horror and chaos of the night. Lekhraj, son of Kushma Devi (55), who was admitted to the ICU, told The Indian Express, “My mother was admitted here and I saw sparks coming out of the store room. I told the hospital staff that there was a short circuit in the store room, but they told me it was nothing serious. Within 15 minutes, the fire broke out, and the whole room was filled with smoke. I could not locate my mother. I tried to enter the room, but it was filled with smoke. I was shouting my mother’s name and tried to look for hospital staff, but none of them were present at the time… I later saw my mother’s name in the list of victims.” The bodies of the victims, including Kushma Devi’s, were handed over to their families after a postmortem on Monday afternoon. Gurpreet Arora, whose aunt Rukmini Kaur was admitted to the hospital, received a call early in the morning from his cousin that the hospital was on fire and that he was not able to reach his mother. “When I reached the hospital from Bharatpur at 5 am on Monday, I saw my cousin completely out of breath. He went inside the trauma centre multiple times before he was able to get his mother out. Due to the smoke, he was not able to breathe, and later, we admitted him to the hospital as well. However, his mother passed away due to inhaling excessive smoke,” said Gurpreet. In the morning, relatives of the victims started a protest, demanding to see the remains of their family members and chanting slogans against the government. The protest was called off by evening, when the bodies were released and the relatives were assured of assistance from the government. Authorities identified the dead as Pintu, Dilip, Shrinath, Rukmini, Khushma, and Bahadur. SMS Hospital’s Trauma and Orthopaedic Institute has 46 beds across four ICUs — they were all occupied — and six general wards, where approximately 250 patients are admitted. The facility also has eight operating rooms, where 40–50 surgeries are performed daily. Hospital staff denied allegations from the relatives of some victims that there were no staff available at the time of the fire. A member of the nursing staff at the orthopaedic ward, Sagar Meena, said they opened all the windows of their ward. “We counselled the patients, telling them that if the need arises, they will have to vacate the ward. Many of us, including the ward boys, went inside the burning ICU to save the patients.” “It is not right to say that hospital staff were not present. Some of our ward boys were burnt as well. A lot of us were not able to breathe. It was such a chaotic situation. We have been working continuously since last night,” said Sagar. A constable at the SMS police station, Hari Mohan, was visiting the hospital for a medical checkup when the fire broke out. He told The Indian Express, “The whole ward was filled with smoke. There was no way to get inside. My eyes were burning, and I wrapped a wet cloth around my mouth. Other police station staff also reached the hospital, and we entered the ward. The beds were not visible, and after a lot of struggle, we took the patients along with the bedsheets and got them out of the ward. I couldn’t breathe for a few hours after this.” There is only one door to the ICU, which made the rescue efforts harder, hospital staff said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed grief over the tragedy. In a post in Hindi on X, he said, “The loss of lives due to the fire tragedy at a hospital in Jaipur, Rajasthan, is deeply saddening. Condolences to those who have lost their loved ones. May the injured recover soon.” Union Home Minister Amit Shah also took to X, saying, “The local administration is taking every possible step for the safety of patients, their treatment, and the care of those affected.” Rajasthan Health and Family Welfare Minister Gajendra Singh Khimsar visited the hospital on Monday to review the fire incident. He expressed his condolences to the families of those who lost their lives, and directed officials to ensure immediate repairs and alternative arrangements for patients. Khimsar also announced a six-member committee, led by the Medical Education Commissioner, to investigate the incident. He said a CISF report on fire safety, commissioned earlier, will soon be received and implemented to strengthen security in all hospitals in the state. Nursing staff at the SMS Hospital claimed that no mock fire drill has been conducted at the hospital in a long time and that they had not received training to deal with these kinds of situations. —With PTI
