6 patients killed after fire breaks out at Rajasthan's SMS hospital trauma centre ICU; CM Bhajanlal Sharma orders probe as kin allege staff ignored warnings

Six critical patients were killed in a fire at the trauma centre of the state-run Sawai Man Singh (SMS) Hospital in Jaipur late Sunday night, officials stated.

Trauma centre in-charge Dr Anurag Dhakad said that 11 patients were being treated in the Neuro ICU when the fire erupted in the storage area. A suspected short circuit is believed to have caused the blaze, he added.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma ordered an investigation into the incident on Monday. A committee, chaired by Iqbal Khan, Commissioner, Medical Education Department, has been announced for the investigation.

This committee will investigate the causes of the fire, the hospital management's response to the fire, the firefighting arrangements at the Trauma Centre and SMS Hospital, the safety and evacuation of patients in the event of a fire, and the measures to protect the hospital from such fires in the future and prevent recurrence, and submit a report.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed grief over the tragedy, saying in a post in Hindi on X, "The loss of lives due to a fire tragedy at a hospital in Jaipur, Rajasthan, is deeply saddening. Condolences to those who have lost their loved ones. May the injured recover soon."

While some reports claimed that eight patients died in the fire, Dr Dhakad and hospital superintendent Dr Sushil Bhati maintained that the number of deaths was six.

The deceased were identified as Pintu (from Sikar), Dilip (from Andhi, Jaipur), Shrinath, Rukmini, Khurma (all from Bharatpur) and Bahadur (from Sanganer, Jaipur), officials stated.

"Six of them, two women and four men, died in the incident," Dr Dhakad said. "Fourteen other patients were admitted in a different ICU, and all were successfully evacuated to safer locations," he added.

The fire created chaos in the building, with smoke rapidly spreading throughout the floor and causing panic among patients and their families.

Various documents, ICU equipment, blood sample tubes, and other items stored in the area were gutted by the fire.

Hospital staff and patient attendants evacuated patients, even transporting them with their beds outside the building. Firefighters arrived shortly after being alerted and brought the fire under control in approximately two hours.

Vikas, a ward boy who was at the scene, told PTI that he and other staff members rescued as many people as they could before the fire worsened.

"We were inside the operating theatre when we heard about the fire, so we immediately rushed to rescue the people inside the centre. We managed to save at least three to four patients. However, as the flames intensified, we could no longer go into the building. We did our best to rescue as many as we could," he said.

He added that the police arrived later, but they could not enter the building immediately due to the heavy smoke.

When the fire team arrived, the entire ward was engulfed in smoke. The firefighters had to break a window on the opposite side of the building to start extinguishing the fire.

CM Sharma, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Jogaram Patel and Minister of State for Home Jawahar Singh Bedham visited the trauma centre to take stock of the situation.

When Patel and Bedham initially arrived, the attendants of two patients expressed their anguish, alleging that the staff fled during the fire. They also claimed that the hospital staff could not provide updates on their patients' conditions.

"We noticed smoke and immediately informed the staff, but they did not pay any heed. When the fire broke out, they were the first to run. Now, we cannot get any information about our patients. We want to know their condition, but no one is telling us," one attendee said.

(With PTI inputs)