10 killed as fire engulfs Vijaywada hotel being used as Covid-19 centre

Ten people died Sunday when fire engulfed a hotel being used as Covid-19 facility in Andhra Pradesh's Vijaywada city, media reports said.
 

"15-20 people have been injured in the incident. They have been rushed to hospital. 2-3 of them are critical," NDTV quoted a senior officer as saying.

The number of those killed in the fire at a hotel being used as a Covid-19 facility in Vijayawada rose to 10 on Sunday, said Vikrant Patil, Deputy Commissioner of Police.
 

The hotel was being used by a corporate hospital for treating Covid-19 patients, the website said.
 

Police said an unknown number of people are feared trapped inside the hotel. News agency ANI reported 30 people have been rescued from the hotel so far.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Twitter he was "anguished" by the deaths and he had discussed the fire with Andhra Chief Minister Y S Jaganmohan Reddy.

Meanwhile, the Andhra Pradesh government announced Rs 50 lakh ex-gratia each to the families of those who lost their lives in the incident. According to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister's Office (CMO), Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy also ordered an in-depth probe into the accident and directed authorities to take steps to ensure better medical services to the victims of the accident.
 

Eight people were killed in a fire in the intensive care unit (ICU) of a private Covid-19 designated hospital in Gujarat’s Ahmedabad on Thursday. Police had said the fire broke out due to a short circuit on the fourth floor of the hospital.

The reason of fire appears to be a short circuit, as per the preliminary report, but we will have to ascertain: Krishna DC Mohammad Imtiaz