Gujarat: 9 evacuated after fire at govt hospital in Jamnagar; no injuries

Nine patients were evacuated after fire broke out at an ICU of a government hospital in Jamnagar city in Gujarat on Tuesday, officials said.

Nobody was injured in the incident, they said. There were no coronavirus patients in the ward.

The fire erupted at an Intensive Care Unit at the Guru Gobind Singh (GG) Government Hospital around 3 pm and was brought under control within an hour, said Jamnagar collector Ravi Shankar.

GG Government Hospital is one of the main civil hospitals in the Saurashtra region.

As per the preliminary probe, short circuit was the cause of the fire, the collector said.

"All the nine patients admitted in the ICU ward were shifted to other wards by doctors and fire brigade staff," Shankar said.

"Old wiring, thermocol and wooden panels led to the blaze spreading," he said, adding that electrical wiring of the entire hospital will be checked to prevent another such incident.

Medical Superintendent of the hospital Dr Deepak Tiwari confirmed that no one was injured.

"All the nine patients in the ICU were rescued in time and shifted to other wards. Three of them were on ventilator while six were on oxygen support," said Dr Tiwari.

A video of the incident showed hospital staff and relatives of patients carrying inmates of the ICU in their arms through thick smoke.

Fire at a private COVID hospital in Ahmedabad had claimed eight lives earlier this month.