Eight persons, including four patients, were charred to death and five others injured in a major fire that broke out at a private hospital here on Monday afternoon, officials said.
Jabalpur Collector Dr. Ilayaraja T said four patients, a caregiver and three staffers of the facility, housed in a ground plus three-storey building, died in the fire which has been put out.
Of the five injured, he said two were in critical condition and admitted to the ICU of the government medical college in Jabalpur.
He said evacuation of patients and other people from the 30-bed hospital was over and no one was trapped in the building. The Collector said there were 20 to 25 people in the hospital when the blaze started.
The fire erupted at the New Life Multi-speciality Hospital near Damoh Naka under the Gohalpur police station area of Jabalpur around 2.30 p.m., Superintendent of Police Siddharth Bahuguna told
It appears an electrical short circuit caused the blaze, he said.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan expressed grief over the tragedy and announced a compensation of ₹5 lakh each to the family of the deceased and ₹50,000 per injured person. “In this hour of grief, the bereaved family should not consider themselves alone, the entire Madhya Pradesh and I are with the family. The government will also bear the cost of treatment of the injured,” the CM said in a tweet.
He further said the Chief Secretary has been directed to keep a close watch on the incident. “I am in constant touch with the local administration and Collector. The Chief Secretary has been directed to keep an eye on the matter. Every effort is being made for relief and rescue,” he had tweeted.
(With agency inputs)
