Odisha hospital fire toll rises to 26

The death toll in Odisha's SUM Hospital fire has mounted to 26, as a person undergoing treatment at Apollo Hospital here succumbed to injuries on Saturday, a health official said.

The deceased has been identified as Kartikeswar Das of GGP colony in Rasulgarh area of Bhubaneswar.

Following the Monday's blaze, the patient was shifted to Apollo Hospital on the same evening.

Two persons succumbed to their injuries on Friday, while two others died on Thursday night.

As many as 106 patients were shifted to different hospitals following the major fire that broke out in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the dialysis ward at SUM hospital on Monday evening.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Pradip Kumar Amat has been given additional charge of the Health and Welfare department after Odisha Health Minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak resigned on moral grounds following the hospital tragedy.

The Information and Public Relations portfolio, which was held by Nayak, has been given to Forest and Environment Minister Bikram Keshari Arukh, said a release from the Chief Minister's Office.

Arukh already holds the Parliamentary Affairs portfolio.

IANS

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