Panic gripped Malathi Manipal Hospital in Jayanagar after fire broke out at a physiotherapy room on the first floor adjacent to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), on Wednesday morning.

There were 45 in-patients in the hospital. There are 79 beds in the ground plus three-storeyed hospital near Marenahalli. The fire broke out around 10 am. When the fire alarm of the hospital went off, one of the employees alerted the fire and emergency services. Even before two fire tenders rushed to the spot, the fire was doused by the hospital staff using fire extinguishers. But the smoke kept spreading to other floors, the police said.

There were nine patients in the ICU and the rest of the patients were in wards. They were shifted out of the hospital on stretchers. The hospital staff immediately made arrangements for shifting the 45 patients by ambulances to different hospitals in the area.

Meanwhile, the fire was completely doused by the firemen, who suspect the mishap could be due to an electrical short-circuit. The police and the fire force personnel  inspected each and every room and toilets in the hospital to ascertain if anyone was trapped.

“It was a 4ftX6 ft physiotherapy room on the first floor where the fire originated and we suspect the cause of fire was an electrical short-circuit. However, only probe will reveal the exact cause of the fire. Fortunately, there were no casualties or even minor injuries to anyone,” T R Puttayya, Regional Fire Officer told DH.