Kilpauk Hospital in Chennai fire in ICU, two killed

Saturday, July 23, 2011: At least two patients were killed when fire broke out in the intensive medical care unit of the government Kilpauk Hospital in Chennai early Saturday.

Police suspect an electrical short circuit in the air-conditioner system in the doctor’s room inside the unit triggered the fire at 5.10 am. Hospital authorities confirmed that two patients — Tamil Selvi, 45 and Krishna Bai, 72 were killed in the mishap.

According to eyewitnesses, the hospital ward boy Vinoth was the first to notice thick smoke billowing out from the doctor’s cabin inside the intensive medical care unit, where eight patients had been admitted. The two doctors inside the room and the ward nurses called the fire service for help. The team then moved each of the patients outside the ward. “The entire ward was covered in smoke. We could not even see each other. Some of us physically lifted patients from the room,” said Vinoth.

The hospital’s medical superintendent Dr S Geethalakshmi said the hospital did its best to ensure patients safety. “All patients are now moved to the critical care unit in the adjacent block,” she said. Krishna Bai, 72, who was admitted on Wednesday with high blood pressure, uncontrolled diabetes and asthma, and another patient Tamil Selvi, who also had asthma died while they were being moved out of the ward