The Uttar Pradesh government on Sunday initiated a probe after fire broke out in the cardiology department of a hospital in Kanpur.
The fire broke at about 7:25 a.m. at a medical store of the ICU of the LPS Institute of Cardiology, said a senior police officer.
It was brought under control but smoke spread to the ICU, said Aseem Arun, Commisioner of Police. All 140 patients were safely evacuated, he said.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath sought a report from the district administration and directed a high-level team of the Principal Secretary, Health Department and the DG Fire to visit the hospital and submit a report.
According to hospital officials, two high-risk patients died in the morning but the deaths were “not caused by the fire”.
About the deaths of the two patients, Dr Vinay Krishna, Director of the hospital, said, “Tek Chand died around 6.30 a.m., even before the fire broke out. Rasoolan Bi died later. The bodies have been sent for post-mortem. Prima facie, the high-risk patients had normal deaths and the fatalities were not caused by the fire. The post-mortem will reveal the exact cause of the deaths.” Dr. Krishna said the cause was “probably a short-circuit”.
“Things are under control now and officers are on the ground. There are no casualties. Over 140 patients were evacuated,” Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Awanish Kumar Awasthi told PTI.
Window panes on the first floor of the hospital were broken to let the smoke out, an official said.
(With inputs from PTI)
