Jagatsinghpur: A fire broke out in the gynecology department of Jagatsinghpur district headquarters hospital Thursday afternoon. However, there were no casualties.
There were over 50 pregnant, post-partum ladies and Caesarean patients admitted in the hospital. They were moved to safe locations by security guards and ambulance drivers. The in-house patients alleged that neither on-duty hospital staff nor the help desk was present in the hospital at the time of the accident. Post-partum Caesarean patients Bijaylaxmi Nayak from Ersama, Sukanti Biswal from Nachipur and Kuni Panda and Arati Dash confirmed the same. The patients also alleged that there has been gross negligence on behalf of the hospital staff and maintenance which led to this horrific accident. The main circuit behind water cooler at Gynecology Department in the first floor caught fire first, sources said. While smoke began to fill the ward, the patients and their attendants were in panic. Somehow they managed to come outside. Hospital manager Shaktimayi Samal arrived at about 7 am and recalled the electric maintenance department and the repair work began. However, the presence of a water cooler grill in front of the main switch board made it difficult for the power to be cut off, a CESU officer informed.
PNN