Cuttack: Family members of victims, who lost their lives after a major fire broke out in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the trauma care centre at SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack, Odisha, blamed the hospital authorities for the tragedy.
The incident took place in the wee hours of Monday, leaving 10 people dead, scores injured and some missing.
Speaking to the media, a family member of one of the deceased said, “I had admitted my maternal grandfather here. It has been 10 days. He was operated upon and was being treated well. Whatever was required, I used to bring from outside, including blood, which was needed for his treatment. The doctor had said that he (grandfather) would need a last unit of blood this morning. But then this incident happened.”
He held the hospital staff responsible for the fire. “They don’t perform their duties well. If they had carried out their duties properly, so many people would not have lost their lives, ” he claimed.
He added that the staff were negligent in their duties. “We are not allowed to carry our mobile phones, but they (staff) put their mobiles on charge. Such things may have caused the fire to break out, ” he said.
“We could see smoke, but we were not allowed to go inside; otherwise, we all could have saved our patients,” he said.
Emphasising that crucial time was wasted, he said, “We had an hour, the fire escalated after an hour, the fire brigade too arrived after an hour.”
He also expressed his anger with the hospital’s security. “Whenever the bed number of our patient is announced, we always have to listen carefully, otherwise we are sent away. The security guards here behave as if they are the chief minister, ” he said.
The father of a victim, who was a resident of Odisha’s Balasore, said, “I was here with my son for 4-5 days. Yesterday evening, the doctor said that he would need more units of blood.”
Breaking down, he told IANS that his son is missing after the fire incident.
He said, “I still don’t know where my son is. I haven’t been able to trace him.”
Appealing to the authorities to look for his son, he said, “I want my son, his name is not even in the list of dead and injured. I have asked the security, too, but nobody has any details about him. I appeal to the authorities to please search for my son.”
Another man, Amitabh Rai’s father, was admitted in the hospital with a head injury March 6.
He said, “My father had recovered well during the treatment, but I lost him in yesterday night’s fire tragedy.”
About the incident, Rai said, “My mother and elder brother were here. They called me up saying that a fire had broken out, and hospital authorities are not allowing them to take the patient.”
He said that his family members were not aware of where the authorities took his father. “Later on, in the morning, I got to know that my father was dead,” he said.
Rai also held the hospital staff responsible for the incident. He said, “The medical staff are solely to be blamed for this tragedy. It is their responsibility to keep the patient safe during treatment.”
