LUCKNOW: Two persons died when a major fire broke out at in the cardiology department of a hospital in Kanpur on Sunday morning. Those who died, including an 80-year-old-woman, were admitted in the ICU.
However, the hospital authorities are yet to confirm the casualties. Other patients were reportedly safely evacuated.
Those who died have been identified as Rasoolan, 80, of Ghatampur Nauranga in Kanpur and Tekchandra of Hamirpur Rath. Tekchandra was on life support system and as the fire broke out, the staff took him out of the ICU but he was declared dead, said the sources.
At least seven fire tenders were sent to the LPS Institute Of Cardiology at Gol Chauraha of Kanpur city after the fire broke out in its emergency wing, station house officer Swaroop Nagar Ashwani Pandey said, adding that the entire hospital was filled with smoke.
Window glasses on the ground and first floor of the emergency wing were broken to take out the patients and attendants, Pandey said.
"About 140 patients were in the emergency ward and the first floor of the hospital. All of them have been taken out. There are patients on other floors of the hospital and they are all safe and medically attended to. Fire department teams are searching inside the hospital for people who may have been left behind or fallen unconscious because of smoke," commissioner of police Asim Arun said.
Chief minister Yogi Adityanath took cognizance of the incident and directed the district authorities to ensure that all evacuated patients were provided with immediate care. He has also sought a report from the district administration and ordered a high-level team to visit the site and submit a report immediately,
his office said.
The CM has deputed Director general (fire services), principal secretary, medical education, and commissioner Kanpur division to conduct the joint probe and submit the report about what led to the fire and the preparedness of the hospital in this regard.
LPS Cardiology is the biggest medical facility catering to the patients with heart ailments in Kanpur region. Patients from 15 districts are treated at this hospital, which recently underwent rapid modernisation in emergency wing in particular.