A fire broke out in the dispensary of the Calcutta Medical College and Hospital on Wednesday morning, reported NDTV. While 250 patients have been evacuated to safety, there are no reports of casualties so far. Ten fire engines were sent to the spot.
The fire allegedly started in the dispensary located on the ground floor of a building. After the fire started, many patients were shifted out of the building on stretchers with their saline drips. Some of the patients who were evacuated have been shifted to other state-run hospitals.
An unidentified senior fire officer told PTI that the blaze has been brought under control. “Fire broke out at the medicine counter around 8 am,” the officer said. “Since this is a huge medical facility and so many patients come here every day, we did not want to take any chance.”
Mayor Sovan Chatterjee said patients have been evacuated. “Right at this moment we are not in a position to find out who is responsible,” he said, according to the Hindustan Times.
In December 2011, there was a fire at Kolkata’s AMRI Hospital in Dhakuria that claimed 93 lives.
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