Fire breaks out in ICU at Odisha's PRM Medical College

Baripada: A fire broke out in the Intensive care unit (ICU) on the third floor of the state-run Pandit Raghunath Murmu Medical College and Hospital in Odisha's Baripada on Friday. 

A fire broke out on the third floor of a government hospital in Odisha's Baripada here on Friday, police said.

No one was killed or injured in the blaze at the Pandit Raghunath Murmu Medical College & Hospital, officials of the medical facility said.

The fire was detected at the ICU ward of the gynaecology department, following which all patients undergoing treatment on the floor were immediately shifted to a safer spot, they said.

As per a media report in The New Indian Express, Attendants and eyewitnesses Susanta Singh, Ranjan Das, Vivekanand Mohanty and Sumati Giri stated that they noticed the fire near the wall which quickly spread to the other places leading to smoke in the entire ward. Within seconds, the ward turned dark as the lights went off due to power disruption, they added.

Following the incident, about 50 to 60 patients including babies were shifted from the ward. SP B Gangadhar took stock of the situation and informed that an electric short circuit was the cause of the incident.

However, the in-charge CDMO Personnel of the Fire Services Department managed to bring the blaze under control after three hours, police said.

The exact cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained, they said, adding, an electrical short-circuit could have triggered the blaze.