SURAT: At least four critically ill COVID-19 patients died at different hospitals in Surat in Gujarat where they were shifted along with 12 others from the ICU ward of a private hospital following a fire, officials said on Monday.
A total of 16 patients were rescued and shifted to different hospitals from the ICU ward of Ayush Hospital located on the fifth floor of a building after a fire broke out there around 11:40 pm on Sunday due to a short circuit.
Of the 16 patients, four patients died after they were shifted to civic-run SMIMER and private Sanjeevani hospital in Surat, a senior Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) official said.
"Three of the patients died at Sanjeevani Hospital while another patient died at SMIMER," said Deputy Commissioner (Health), Ashish Naik.
Fire department officials had claimed there was no casualty due to the blaze at the hospital as all the 16 patients were successfully rescued and taken to other hospitals.
"As far as the fire department is concerned, all the patients were properly shifted to other hospitals," said SMC Deputy Commissioner NV Upadhyay.
Of these 16 patients, eight were shifted to the SMIMER and the civil hospital, and the rest to private hospitals.
As many as fifteen fire tenders were deployed to douse the fire which erupted in the air conditioner unit in the ICU ward of the Ayush hospital located on the fifth floor of a building on station road.
The fire was brought under control quickly but all the patients admitted in the ICU ward had to be shifted to other hospitals.