Jaipur hospital fire: Families allege staff negligence after 6 die

Jaipur, Oct 6 (PTI) In the aftermath of the tragic fire at the Sawai Man Singh Hospital’s Trauma Centre here, families of the victims have accused the hospital staff of gross negligence. The blaze, which broke out on Sunday night, claimed the lives of six critically ill patients due to burns and suffocation.

The hospital is the biggest government-run facility in the state and treats patients from across Rajasthan, including critically ill patients referred from district hospitals, as well as other states.

The trauma centre building is located opposite the main hospital building on Tonk Road. The fire broke out in a store room of an ICU on the second floor of the Trauma Centre, where 11 patients were admitted. Six of them died, while others were rescued.

A second ICU on the same floor had 14 patients, and all of them were shifted to safer places.

Those who died were Pintu from Sikar, Dilip and Bahadur from Jaipur, Shrinath, Rukmini and Kusuma from Bharatpur.

The attendants of the patients, however, alleged that the hospital staff ignored early warnings regarding the blaze and fled as the fire spread. They also claimed that police personnel pushed them away as they tried to get updates on the condition of their loved ones.

When Parliamentary Affairs Minister Jogaram Patel and Minister of State for Home Jawahar Singh Bedham visited the trauma centre to take stock of the situation, attendants of two patients expressed their anguish over the alleged negligence of the staff.

“We noticed smoke and immediately informed the staff, but they did not pay any heed. When the fire broke out, they were the first to run. Now, we cannot get any information about our patients. We want to know their condition, but no one is telling us,” one of the attendants said.

During Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma’s visit to the hospital, some of the family members alleged that they were pushed away by the police. Later, they held a brief protest outside the trauma centre against the alleged negligence of the hospital administration and the state government.

Omprakash, a cousin brother of one of the victims, Pintu, told reporters about the hospital staff’s alleged indifference.

“As soon as the smoke began to rise, we alerted the staff, but no one paid attention. It was not until 20 minutes later that the fire engulfed the entire ward. Instead of helping the patients, the hospital staff fled the scene,” he said.

Omprakash described the horrific scene inside and said it took more than 90 minutes to take his brother out.

“His body was not burnt, but his face was completely blackened from the smoke. When we took him outside, there were no doctors present,” he said.

Another deceased Rukmani’s son recalled the moment the fire broke out.

“My mother was recovering, but then this disaster happened. When the smoke began to fill the ward, there were 15 to 16 people there. Everybody tried to evacuate their patient,” he said.

Jogendra, a relative of one of the patients, said the smoke was so thick that visibility was nearly zero.

“No one helped my mother. My elder brother grabbed a torch from the hospital staff, found our mother, and brought her out. We could not save her… we could not do anything,” he said.

Some of the attendants, who were outside the trauma building, tried to enter soon after the incident occurred in a desperate bid to save their loved ones, but were pushed back by the staff.

Those inside were seen rushing the patients to safety, with some even wheeling beds outside the building.

The state government has constituted a committee to investigate the causes of the fire and the hospital’s response. The committee is tasked with reviewing the fire safety measures, the evacuation process and the role of the hospital management during the emergency.

At the same time, Jaipur police has formed a committee comprising experts from police, FSL and the fire department to investigate the incident.

The fire, which broke out due to a suspected short circuit, quickly spread smoke and toxic gas, making it impossible for the hospital staff to rescue all patients in time.

Trauma centre’s in charge Dr Anurag Dhakad described the situation as a grave emergency.

“There were 11 patients in the ICU when the fire broke out. While 5 patients were successfully rescued, the rapid spread of smoke and toxic gas filled the ICU. We had our own firefighting equipment, which we used immediately. However, by the time we managed to rescue the five patients, the situation had worsened and toxic gas had spread extensively,” he said.

Another senior doctor recounted the chaos caused by the fire.

“The on-duty residents informed us that a spark suddenly ignited, and soon after, the entire ward was filled with smoke. Nursing staff and ward boys worked quickly to evacuate patients from the ICU. However, the fire and smoke triggered panic in other wards as well. Attendants and hospital staff began evacuating patients with their beds to safety,” Dr Jagdish Modi said.

He said that after the incident, patients were moved to alternate ICU wards. “We have since shifted patients back to their respective wards, and an observation team has been deployed to monitor the situation.” The ICU next to the one where the fire originated was also under threat. This ICU had 14 patients, who were relocated to another ward to ensure their safety. PTI SDA RHL