BHUBANESWAR: It was a terrible experience for Anil Choudhury who had come all the way from Raigarh of neighbouring Chhatisgarh today for a check up of his chest.
In his late thirties, a scraggy Anil suffering from chest congestion had come to SUM Hospital this morning on the advice of a relative from Bargarh. After preliminary check up, he was admitted in
the hospital.
He and other indoor patients were taken for surprise when the hospital staff asked them to vacate the dormitory immediately at about 7.30 pm. All the patients were herded into an auditorium.
"We were clueless till then that a fire has broken out in the hospital. When we came out of the room there was commotion outside and people are running helter-skelter," Anil said.
Anil said he saw fumes gushing out from the corridor where the Medicine ICU is located. Patients were removed from the ICU in stretchers.
"Since the ICU was well guarded we were not allowed there. People coming out from the ICU told us about the fire," he added.
Attendants and relatives of many patients were seen running from ward to ward in search of them as all the indoor patients were moved out.