HYDERABAD: A major mishap was averted on Wednesday morning after an electrical unit box at ground floor of the Gandhi Hospital caught fire and spread across the electrical cables on three floors above.
The incident occurred at 7:20 am in the North Block of the hospital campus where patients wards are located. The hospital administration swung into action and switched off the power supply in the entire block averting any major damage. No injuries to human life was reported.
"As the fire out post is there within the campus, fire extinguishers were opened by our trained staff to control the spread. In the next five minutes a fire vehicle reached the spot and within 15 to 20 minutes the fire was controlled," stated Gandhi Hospital Superintendent Dr M Raja Rao.
It is learnt that even though fire spread vertically on the electrical cables across three floors, there was no damage to equipment as well.
Since the electrical works are damaged, the patients in the North block are now being shifted to south block. "In the north block, no patient is on life support, all are elective cases and there is no interruption/inconvenience for their treatment with the going of electricity or the shifting," added Dr Rao
Meanwhile, with Gandhi Hospital being the state's biggest public sector hospital for both COVID and non-COVID services, the Director of Medical Education Dr K Ramesh Reddy visited the spot. An electrical technical team from TSMSIDC have also come in to assess all areas to prevent any future incidents of short circuits and to re-establish the damaged cables.
The hospital officials further stated that post the incident, the fire out posts in the campus are on an alert.