Fourth Fire COVID-19 Reference Hospital In India Raises Questions

Indian PM Narendra Modi monitors COVID-19 patients in a hospital (Source: Antara)

JAKARTA - A fire in a hospital in India has killed five COVID-19 patients. The fire broke out Friday, 27 November. This is the fourth incident to hit a COVID-19 referral hospital since the virus broke out in the country.

The incident raised questions from the Supreme Court. Early morning fires broke out in the city of Rajkot, Gujarat State, scorching the intensive care unit (ICU) of a private hospital, according to television broadcasts.

Government official Udit Agarwal said the fire was most likely caused by an electrical short circuit. "Three patients in the ICU died on the spot, and two others died on their way to the hospital. Meanwhile, two more ICU patients are safe," Agarwal told Reuters, quoted Friday, November 27.

India recorded 9.3 million cases of COVID-19, the second highest in the world after the United States, and 135,000 more deaths. On Friday, the Health Ministry announced an additional 43,082 cases and 492 deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours.

The latest fires have sparked the ire of India's top court, which asked state and federal governments to go into detail about the repeated fires at a COVID-19 referral hospital.

In August, eight COVID-19 patients also died in a fire at the hospital's ICU ward in Ahmedabad, Gujarat's largest city. Prime Minister Narendana Modi, who is from Gujarat, wrote on Twitter that he was saddened by the loss of his life

Modi will visit three companies developing the COVID-19 vaccine, including one in Gujarat, on Saturday, November 28, according to the prime minister's office Twitter account.