Fire, Stampede at Murshidabad Medical College: 1 Dead, 30 Injured

Berhampore: Panic struck at Murshidabad Medical College and Hospital when a fire broke out at the 4th floor of the medical facility.

After the fire was noticed, a stampede-like situation arose and everyone ran for safety, during this time, unfortunately, one woman died and at least 30 persons suffered injuries. 6 patients are said to be in critical condition, according to medical college and hospital authorities.

“Many patients and their relatives started running in fear. One woman died and several were injured in the stampede,” said Hospital Superintendent and Vice-Principal Dr Debdas Saha informed.

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As mentioned in a UNI report, mostly aged men and women were injured in a stampede when everyone ran for safety in panic after a fire alarm came from a ceiling fan at the 4th floor of Murshidabad Medical College.

Millennium Post reports that the patients, who visited the Out-Patient Department (OPD), spotted fire inside room number 118. The panic-stricken patients started rushing downstairs. The situation led to chaos and a number of patients suffered injuries while climbing down the stairs.

The injured persons were admitted to the emergency ward of the hospital. A woman patient reportedly succumbed to her injuries later in the hospital.

Three fire tenders rushed to the medical college premises to douse the flame. It has been reported that the security personnel and some staff members of the hospital extinguished the fire before the fire tenders arrived the spot. The security personnel told hospital authorities that no such fire incident took place inside the room and only smoke was spotted coming out of a ceiling fan inside that room.

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The police officials informed TOI, “Fire service officials said that a short circuit in the wiring connected to the ceiling fan of room 118 sparked smoke. Nobody was injured in the fire itself. But a woman was killed and 23-30 patients were injured when everybody was trying to flee from the building”.

For the time being, the medical college and hospital authorities have initiated probe to ascertain the exact cause of the fire. According to the preliminary investigation, an electrical short circuit might have led to the incident.

A similar fire had broken out in the year 2016 when over three persons were killed.

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