Jaipur hospital fire: Families, eyewitnesses allege lack of safety equipment, Rajasthan govt forms probe panel

At least seven people were killed after a massive fire at Jaipur's Sawai Man Singh (SMS) Hospital on Sunday evening. With the Rajasthan government ordering a probe into the devastating incident, relatives of the deceased patients have alleged safety lapses and lack of equipment to douse the flames that claimed seven lives.

Kin allege lack of safety protocol
“When there was a spark, there was a cylinder beside it. The smoke spread throughout the ICU, causing everyone to flee in panic. Some managed to rescue their own patients, but mine was left alone in the room. As the gas spread further, they shut the gates,” Puran Singh, a relative of a patient said.

The relatives of the victims also claimed a lack of equipment to douse the fire.

Another attendant of the fire victim said no facilities were available there when the fire broke out. "There was a fire in the ICU, and I didn't even know. I had come downstairs to have dinner at the time. There wasn't even any equipment to douse the fire--no facilities were available. My mother was admitted there," Narendra Singh said.

Protests against the hospital management
The relatives of the fire victims also protested against the hospital administration and the State government, alleging negligence by hospital staff, news agency ANI reported.

One of the protestors alleged that the hospital staff was negligent when informed about the short circuit at the ICU.
"The hospital staff was informed about the short circuit, but they did not listen to us. People have lost their loved ones due to the hospital administration's negligence. If there was no negligence, people would not have lost their lives," he told ANI.

Govt forms probe panel
While the cause of the fire, prima facie, is being attributed to a short circuit, the Rajasthan government on Monday constituted a six-member committee to investigate the fire.

The committee will be chaired by Iqbal Khan, Commissioner of the Medical Department, and includes Mukesh Kumar Meena, Additional Director of Hospital Administration in Rajasthan Medical Education Society (RajMES), Chandan Singh Meena, Chief Engineer, RajMES; Ajay Mathur, Chief Engineer, Electrical in PWD; RK Jain, Additional Principal, SMS Medical College, and Chief Fire Officer, Jaipur Municipal Corporation.

The incident
At the time of the incident, 11 patients were admitted in the affected ICU, while 13 others were in an adjoining ward.

A Fire officer said that by the time fire crews arrived, the entire ward was filled with smoke, blocking all access.

“We had to break windowpanes from the opposite side of the building and spray water jets inside,” he said. It took nearly one and a half hours to douse the flames. Patients were evacuated along with their beds and shifted to the roadside.