In India, at least eight Coronavirus patients have been killed on Thursday after a fire engulfed the critical care unit of a hospital in Ahmedabad city in the western Gujarat state.
An officer, Yusuf Khan told AP news agency that it took firefighters half an hour to contain the blaze at Shrey Hospital in Ahmadabad and 35 patients had been moved to other hospitals.
Officials said the victims included five men and three women as investigation has been launched to find out the cause of the fire.
Moreover, according to emergency services, the fire was caused by a medical staff member’s personal protective equipment (PPE) after it caught fire.
Rajesh Bhatt, an additional chief fire officer of the Ahmedabad Fire and Emergency Services said “a staffer whose PPE caught fire ran out of the ward to douse it, but the fire spread rapidly to the whole ward.”
Reacting to the incident, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted he is “saddened by the tragic hospital fire in Ahmedabad. Condolences to the bereaved families… Administration is providing all possible assistance to the affected.”
Fires are common in buildings in India because of poor safety standards with inadequate fire extinguishers, smoke detectors and fire alarm systems.
The country’s Health Ministry on Wednesday said India has more than 1.9 million Coronavirus cases after recording another 56,282 new cases. Also more than 40,500 persons have died due to the virus.