Probe into smoke incident at medical college underway, says Kerala CM; Cong slams health dept

Kozhikode/New Delhi: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday said that the electrical inspectorate is carrying out a probe into the smoke incident reported at the state-run hospital in Kozhikode and its exact cause could be ascertained only after that.

The opposition Congress criticised the health department over the incident and demanded a high-level probe into the deaths of five patients, who died in the hospital after thick smoke emanated from one of the rooms.

However, the medical college authorities made it clear that none of the deaths were caused due to smoke inhalation, but the Congress wanted the doubts and concerns of relatives of the deceased persons be addressed.

Speaking to reporters in New Delhi, the CM said such an incident should not have happened and Health Minister Veena George has already proceeded to Kozhikode.

"The exact cause of the incident can be found out after the electrical inspectorate's probe. Minister George has already left for Kozhikode to visit the medical college. The other things can be decided after that," he said.

Meanwhile, the Medical College Police said they have registered a case into the death of three patients reported at the government hospital after the smoke incident.

The Congress wanted the state government to carry out the post-mortem of all the five patients and urged the authorities to bear the expenses of other patients who were shifted to nearby hospitals.

Thick black smoke was seen billowing out from the UPS room inside the emergency department building of the state-run medical college by 7 pm on Friday, which caused panic among patients and their bystanders.

A short circuit was suspected to be the reason for the sudden billowing of smoke across the building, hospital sources said.

Congress's Wayanad legislator T Siddique, who had alleged that some deaths reported at the hospital were due to smoke inhalation, said on Saturday that there was a huge lapse from the side of the medical college authorities in terms of fire and safety.

A separate probe should be carried out into that aspect, he told reporters here.

Gross negligence has happened on the side of the medical college and health department authorities, he said, adding that an investigation should be conducted.

"The government should be ready to carry out a high-level probe into the factors that have led to the death of those patients. Let all such aspects come out in the probe," he said.

Earlier in the day, District Congress Committee president K Praveen Kumar said the post-mortem of the bodies of five persons, who had died at the hospital after the smoke rose from the UPS room inside the emergency department, should be conducted.

"The Health Department is usually adamant on conducting post-mortem even on those persons who are brought dead. So, there should not be any laxity in this case. Precautions should also be taken against the recurrence of such incidents in the future," he said.

He also alleged that some private hospitals charged exorbitant amounts from hapless patients who were admitted there after being evacuated from the government medical college after the smoke incident.

Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi also intervened in the matter and spoke to the district collector, party sources said.

She wanted the state government to bear the expenses of the deceased patients and provide all necessary assistance to their kin.

A group of BJP workers took out a protest march to the medical college demanding that the post-mortem of the patients should be carried out in some other hospitals to bring out the truth. They were removed by police later.

Former BJP state chief K Surendran criticised the state government over the incident and demanded the resignation of the health minister in this regard.

Hospital authorities, however, have been maintaining since the beginning that one person was brought dead at the hospital and others were in critical condition and smoke inhalation was not the reason for the worsening of their condition or death.

The health minister had already instructed the Director of Medical Education to carry out a probe into the incident.

Abdullah, one of the patients who was shifted from the hospital after the incident, said he managed to get out of the emergency ward holding his glucose drip in his hands.

"The power supply went three times before the smoke incident. Hearing the clamour outside, first I thought it might be some other issues inside the hospital. Later, smoke was seen spreading across the building. So, I also ran along with others," he told the media on Saturday.

All patients in the building were quickly evacuated.

Visuals shown on news channels displayed patients being moved out on stretchers and taken away in ambulances.

Soon after the incident, Minister George said emergency medical facilities were arranged at the nearby beach hospital in the wake of the incident.