Cuttack: The toll in a devastating early morning fire at Cuttack’s SCB Medical College and Hospital in Odisha on Monday rose to 12 as two more critically injured patients succumbed to their injuries later in the day.
The blaze erupted around 2.48 am in the first-floor trauma care Intensive Care Unit (ICU), suspected to have been triggered by an electrical short circuit. Flames rapidly spread to the second and third floors, engulfing sections of the state’s oldest and largest government-run hospital, established in 1944 with nearly 2,700 beds and serving thousands daily.
Of the 23 patients in the affected ICUs, seven died on the spot amid thick smoke and chaos, while three passed away during frantic evacuation efforts. Two more — a 45-year-old man and an 11-year-old girl — later succumbed in the medicine ICU.
Nurses and staff acted swiftly upon noticing the fire, first alerting attendants and then assisting in rescuing patients, many of whom were on ventilators or critically ill. Eleven hospital staff members suffered burn injuries but are now out of danger.
Attendants of the patients, however, alleged that the patient shifting process was painfully slow, and the restricted status of the area restricted their access and the flow of information. They alleged that the delay in raising an alarm, with many claiming that the siren went off only after the fire intensified, and calling in the fire services may have contributed to the casualties. Fire safety equipment installed inside the ICU, including sprinklers and extinguishers, also did not function.
Preliminary investigations corroborated some of the serious lapses, including a disabled sprinkler valve and non-functional fire alarm system. A prior minor spark in an overhead AC unit had been doused earlier, but the subsequent outbreak spread uncontrollably. However, firefighters from the campus station arrived within minutes after the alert reached emergency services via the 112 system at approximately 2.58 am.
The tragedy evoked painful memories of the 2016 private hospital fire in Bhubaneswar that claimed 21 lives.
Chief Minister Mohan Majhi, who visited the hospital, announced an ex-gratia payment of ₹25 lakh to the next of kin of each deceased from the state relief fund. He ordered a judicial probe headed by retired district judge Laxmidhar Biswal to examine the sequence of events, accountability, and the hospital’s fire preparedness. A separate six-member fact-finding team, led by Development Commissioner Deoranjan Kumar Singh, was also formed. “Stringent action will be taken against anyone found guilty,” Majhi assured.
Later in the evening, Leader of Opposition Naveen Patnaik visited the fire-affected ICU at the hospital. He inspected the damaged ICU, met the injured patients who had been shifted to other wards, and held detailed discussions with the attending doctors about their treatment and current condition.
Expressing profound concern over the incident, Naveen described the fire in the ICU of a premier government medical institution as a grave and unacceptable lapse, demanding a thorough and impartial investigation.
