At least eight COVID19 patients, who were undergoing treatment at Sunrise Hospital in Mumbai’s Bhandup West, died in a major fire mishap in the hospital building.
More than 70 other patients of the hospital have been evacuated and shifted to other hospitals.
The bodies of two patients, who died of COVID19, were also recovered.
The incident broke out at midnight on Friday.
A media report quoted Sunrise Hospital CEO Dr Hafeez Rehman as saying that after the incident some patients have gone missing and efforts are underway to identify and find them.
After the incident, 30 patients have been shifted to Mulund Jumbo centre, another Covid19 treatment facility.
Of these, the condition of four patients is stated to be serious. Two of the patients are in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) while two others are on oxygen support.
The other patients have been admitted to different hospitals and the non-COVID patients have been shifted to Fortis Hospital, the report said.
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The fire broke out at around 12.30 am.
Sunrise Hospital is located on the third floor of Dreams Mall.
The hospital authority said its fire alarms were set off by the smoke, following which all patients were evacuated from the building to a fire refuge area.
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Sunrise Hospital in a statement said the hospital was started in “exceptional circumstances of Covid last year”, and has helped in saving many patients from Covid deaths.
“It is functioning with all due compliance like fire licence, nursing home licence etc. The hospital staff did a fantastic job in safely evacuating patients on wheelchairs and beds to the refuge areas and by following the fire drills,” the hospital added in the statement.
The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained, said Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar.
“This is a very serious situation. First time I have seen a hospital in a mall. Civic body will conduct investigation to ascertain the cause of the fire and action will be taken accordingly,” the report quoted Pednekar as saying.