Odisha fire tragedy: SUM Hospital Sacks 4 employees , Announces ex-gratia for victims family
18 October, Bhubaneswar
A day after the deadly fire mishap at SUM Hospital in Odisha capital, the hospital authorities Tuesday suspended four of its employees including the Fire Officer and Manager for alleged dereliction of duty. The authorities are however tight lipped regarding the exact reason behind their suspension.
Meanwhile, the SUM Hospital authorities announced to provide exgratia to each of the deceased families to the tune of Rs.5 lakh and to bear all expense towards treatment of the injureds.
Welcoming the probe panel constituded by State government, the Hospital authorities said that they would cooperate fully during the investigation.
The State health secretary Arti Ahuja who visited the accident site this morning said, post-mortem of all the bodies has been completed.
She said the ICU, dialysis and emergency units of the SUM Hospital have been sealed for proper investigation. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik also visited the accident site, AIIMS and a private hospital in Bhubaneswar to meet patients shifted from SUM Hospital after the fire mishap.
Utter chaos and confusion, delay in evacuation of patients from ICU and dialysis units contributed to the large scale of fire tragedy at the Institute of Medical Sciences and SUM Hospital in Bhubaneswar, say survivors and patients’ attendants. Fire Service DG Binay Behera who visited the accident site this morning said, prima facie it appears that short circuit was the reason behind the incident.
The fire had broken out in the Intensive Care Unit of the Dialysis ward in the first floor of the hospital last evening killing 22 and injuring more than 100 patients.
This is the second such incident in the state within six months.
On May 31, a fire broke out at the SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack. Over 100 patients had a providential escape when the cardiology department caught fire. BM